NSW Government offering grant for waste solutions

Local Government Waste Solutions (LGWS), a $10 million fund, has encouraged NSW councils and regional waste groups to develop waste reduction projects and support the transition to a circular economy.

Liesbet Spanjaard, NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Executive Director, said local councils and regional waste groups need to bring their ideas to life in order to reach net zero by 2050. She said investment in innovation is essential to achieve the 2023 targets set out by the NSW Government, which include a 60% reduction in litter and an 80% average resource recovery rate from waste streams.

“We know there is value in what we waste, and this program will play an important role in unlocking the opportunities to drive a circular NSW,” Spanjaard said.

Eligible organisations are encouraged to prioritise projects that meet circular design principles such as material recovery and reprocessing which keep products in use for as long as possible.

The program will offer grants of up to $200,000 to individual councils and grants of up to $400,000 to regional waste groups and joint council initiatives in its first year.

The first round of funding is for $2 million in 2023, while another $8 million will be available over the following four years.

Applications for the first round of funding are open from 16 January to 31 March 2023.

The program is part of the NSW Government’s $356 million Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy which outlines targets to help NSW transition to a circular economy over the next 20 years.

For more information: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/working-together/grants.

Image caption: iStock.com/AzmanJaka