New circular plastics funding for NSW businesses
By Tamanna Wadhwani 20 October 2022
The NSW government has announced the first round of the Circular Plastics Grant worth $5 million, will be open for businesses until mid-November.
The Circular Plastics Program, part of the Circular Materials Fund (CMF), aims to support NSW businesses in their transition to better plastic products and increase plastic recycling rates in the state. A total of $5 million from the fund will be available for eligible businesses and expressions of interest for the grant will be open until 17 November 2022.
Eligible businesses include small to medium manufacturers with fewer than 200 ‘full-time’ staff that are contributing towards the ‘make’ phase of the product lifecycle. This program will be imperative to meet the state’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 and NSW Plastics Action Plan targets.
As NSW currently produces around 800,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only 10% of that being recycled, there is a significant loss of valuable materials in the economy. The CMF will thus be a key driver of change by providing businesses with the means to transition to more circular business models – reducing virgin and hard-to-recycle plastics usage, increasing plastics recycling rates and strengthening partnerships between various producers, end users and resource recovery sectors.
As part of Round 1, the grant will be available under two streams:
Stream 1: For sole applicants and individual manufacturers for projects involving new product design and/or manufacturing of plastic products.
Stream 2: For projects involving collaborative partnerships, where manufacturers are the lead applicants, working on the plastic product lifecycle.
To know more and keep up to date with other funding opportunities for NSW businesses wanting to transition to the circular economy, visit the NSW EPA Waste and Recycling Infrastructure Fund.
Tamanna moved from India to Australia to pursue a degree in environmental science and conservation biology. After learning about the concept of a circular economy in 2020, she worked with various organisations in this sector and is interested in solving complex climate change and waste management problems. She loves to communicate with people about all things sustainability or animals. Outside of work, Tamanna is a budding hip hop dancer who also loves travelling, cat cuddles and reading.
