Funding for Projects to Cut Landfill & Create Jobs : BLOG: Making the Most of ‘Waste Less Recycle More’ Funding in NSW, Australia

Aditya Prasad explains the Waste Less Recycle More funding package by the New South Wales Government in Australia and outlines what makes for a successful application.

Phase one of the Waste Less Recycle More (WLRM) funding package by the NSW Government has awarded $292.3 million of funding to 822 projects to date. These projects aim to process 2,230,167 tonnes of waste previously destined for landfill and create 845 jobs.

The infrastructure package comprises the largest piece of the WLRM pie, amounting to $85 million of funding, of which the Resource Recovery Facility Expansion and Enhancement (RRFEE) grant stream has provided $13.9 million of funding to 27 projects to date.

The RRFEE stream provides grants of $100,000 to $1 million to projects that increase the processing capacity or enhance the recovery rate of an existing facility.

Round 4 (the final round of funding for this stream in the current WLRM program) is currently open for application and applications must be in by 9 February 2017.

Past Winners

A majority of the winning applications (19 out of 27) from previous rounds concentrate on projects which enhance the recovery rate of the existing facility, while the remaining aim to increase the processing capacity of the facility.

The successful applications targeted an average funding amount of $430,000 and many of the projects focused on recovering specific materials; e.g. wood (8 projects), plastics (6 projects) , metal (4 projects) and glass (3 projects).

Current Focus

The NSW EPA states that it will give a preference to small and medium sized operators in the C&D sector for this round of funding, which focuses on the following key areas:

Recovery of recyclables from sorted and unsorted waste from business, industry and households;

Reuse, recycling and reprocessing of recyclable materials from business, industry and households; and

Processing and stabilisation of residual business, industry and household waste.

As outlined in a previous article, eligible applicants are NSW local councils as well as industry and business who operate licensed waste management facilities in NSW. While, to be eligible, Projects must demonstrate:

Enhancement: changes to existing facility to increase recovery; or

Expansion: changes that increase the processing capacity of an existing plant.

Aditya Prasad is an environmental consultant at MRA Consulting Group which to date has submitted more than 130 WLRM grant applications, winning more than $30m in funding.

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