Auckland Council announces Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund (New Zealand)

Deadline: 31-Aug-22

The Auckland Council is pleased to announce the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund (WMIF) with an aim to reduce and minimise the amount of waste going to landfill.

The fund has a specific focus on seed funding new initiatives – including developing business and community-based resource recovery centers and programs.

Vision and Purpose

• The Waste Minimization and Innovation Fund supports the vision, targets and strategic objectives of the Waste Management and Minimization Plan.
• Vision of the Waste Management and Minimization Plan
• Auckland has a long-term aspirational goal of Zero Waste by 2040, taking care of people and the environment, and turning waste into resources.
• Targets:
  • Total regional waste
    • Reduce total council- and private-sector-influenced waste to landfill by 30 per cent by
    • 2027 (from the baseline of 832kg to 582kg per capita per year)
• Domestic waste
  • Reduce domestic kerbside refuse by 30 per cent by 2021 (from 160kg to 110kg per capita per year)
  • After 2021, reduce domestic kerbside refuse by a further 20 per cent by 2028 (from 110kg to 88kg per capita per year)
• Council waste
  • Reduce council’s own in-house office waste by 60 per cent per capita by 2024 (from a 2012 baseline)
  • Work across council to set a baseline for operational wastes and, by 2019, put in place targets for reduction

Strategic Objectives:

• Reducing Auckland’s reliance on landfills
• Achieving operational efficiencies in domestic waste and recycling services
• Reducing harm from waste
• Restricting organic waste going to landfill
• Developing an infrastructure and processes to maximize resource recovery
• Reducing council's responsibility for dealing with end-of-life consumer products and packaging through appropriate advocacy
• maximizing local economic development opportunities eg jobs created by diverting waste from landfill
• Reduced litter and illegal dumping and related costs.

Priority Areas

• Priority waste streams for the 2022 grant round:
  • Construction and demolition waste.
  • Organic waste.
  • Textiles.

Funding Information

• The fund has $500,000 to distribute annually, with one funding round per year for grants between $1,000 and $50,000
  • Sub-categories for funding allocation are:
    • Small and simple projects from $1,000 – $5,000
    • Medium projects from $5,001 – $25,000
    • Large Projects Grants over $25,000

Eligibility Criteria

• The fund is open to community groups, businesses, mana whenua, mataawaka, and early childhood centres, schools, tertiary organizations and other community-based organizations operating in the Auckland region.
• Only waste minimization projects are eligible for funding. Projects must promote or achieve waste minimization. Waste minimization covers the reduction of waste, and the reuse and recycling and the recovery of materials or energy for further use or processing.
• The scope of the fund includes educational projects that promote waste minimization activity only, but not general environmental education programmes.
• The fund does not cover projects that focus on waste disposal or on the treatment of wastes for disposal/clean ups.
• Projects must result in new waste minimization activity, either by implementing new initiatives, or a significant expansion in the scope or coverage of existing activities.
• Funding is not for the ongoing financial support of existing activities, nor is it for the running costs of the existing activities of organisations, individuals or firms.
• Projects may be for a discrete funding timeframe of one year, after which the project objectives should have been achieved and, where appropriate, the initiative has become self-funding.
• Funding can be used for operational or capital expenditure that is required to undertake a project.
• The applicant must be a legal entity or fall under an umbrella legal entity.
• The fund will cover up to 50% of the cost of the project. Applicants will need to demonstrate adequate sources of additional funding from their own or other resources, or in kind.

For more information, visit Auckland Council.

For more information, visit https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/grants-community-support-housing/grants/grants-calendar/Pages/grant-details.aspx?itemID=58