Plastics Innovation Fund – New Zealand

Deadline: 30-Jun-22

The Ministry for the Environment has launched Plastics Innovation Fund to support projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment.

They are seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what they do use reusable or recyclable.

Objectives

• The primary objective is to promote or achieve plastics waste minimisation, as required under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, in order to protect the environment from harm.
• The secondary objectives are:
  • A just transition to a low emissions, low waste circular economy to retain Aotearoa New Zealand’s clean, green international reputation.
  • Job creation and the transformation of the industries including: the manufacturing and primary industries and the waste and resource recovery sector.
  • Provide environmental, social, economic, and cultural benefits.

Funding Information

• The minimum grant for feasibility or scoping studies will be $20,000. The minimum grant for all other projects will be $50,000.
• Funding is not for the running costs of the existing business as usual activities of organisations, individuals, councils or firms.
• Funding can be for operational or capital expenditure over multiple years, up to a limit of four years.
• For projects where other Government funds are available (such as research funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Ministry of Primary Industries), applicants should seek early advice from the Ministry for the Environment, to ensure that the application fits with the fund.
• In general, the fund will not cover the entire cost of the project. Applicants should seek part-funding from other sources and, if obtained, must have commitments in place for this funding at the time of application.

Eligible Projects

• To be eligible, projects must promote or achieve plastic waste minimisation and be aligned to the plastic priorities and fund outcomes in effect for that round. Plastic waste harms the ecosystem and climate and the majority of funding allocated will be to projects that seek to eliminate, reduce, manage, or mitigate the impact of plastic waste.
• Projects must be within the scope of the fund and include those that:
  • aim to reimagine how they make, use, recycle or dispose of plastics, to provide more sustainable alternative options
  • may involve innovation across the plastics lifecycle: rethink/redesign, reduce, reuse/repurpose, recycle, recover, treat and dispose
  • may innovate across a range of approaches, including matauranga Maori, engineering, economics, the social and biophysical sciences
  • may involve international collaboration to find or adopt international solutions to reduce harm to the environment from plastics.
• Projects must promote or achieve new activity on the part of the applicant, or involve a significant expansion in the scope or coverage of existing activities.
• Projects that adopt, scale up or increase in uptake of existing technologies and innovation, developed in New Zealand or overseas, are also eligible.

What is being Funded?

• The Plastics Innovation Fund is targeted at projects that:
  • minimise plastic waste
  • support circular solutions
  • protect the environment from harm
  • support the reduction of imported plastic
  • improve the behaviour of people and businesses (up the waste hierarchy)
• The first funding round which opens on 1 November 2021 calls for feasibility studies, and research and development projects. These will be prioritised. However, any project type can apply.

Eligibility Criteria

The applicant must be a legal entity.