The City of Melbourne has made $100,000 available in grants to support local groups’ initiatives to reuse, recycle and divert waste from landfill.
Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, said community groups, schools, social enterprises, start-ups, university researchers and students located in or adding value to the City of Melbourne are all eligible to apply.
“The funding will go directly to projects and initiatives that will help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill,” Ms Capp said.
“We’re looking for projects that could help reduce food waste, prevent litter, or deliver local solutions to household waste.”
Ms Capp said the City of Melbourne had reached an agreement to resume processing of household recycling.
“The short-term arrangement to process household recycling was reached while Kordamentha seeks to finalise the sale of SKM,” she said.
“We urge the community to continue separating their waste and recycling. It’s vital that general waste not be mixed in with recycling to ensure recycling services are sustainable and viable.”
The following grants available:
- Up to $5,000 for community groups, residents groups, schools and non-profit organisations
- Up to $25,000 for startups, including social enterprise startups, and for universities, including students and researchers
Chair of the City of Melbourne’s Environment portfolio, Councillor Cathy Oke, said that it was important that Council support residents and community groups that are trying to avoid creating waste.
“Residents and businesses are overwhelmingly telling us they want to reduce their environmental impact and we want to respond to their goodwill. The fund will support community groups and innovators who are working to solve our waste problem together,” Ms Oke said.
The grants of up to $5,000 aim to empower people to make a difference in their local area.
The grants of up to $25,000 will enable groups to develop their innovative ideas and projects. We’re inviting people to bring new thinking to our waste challenges.
Applicants for grants need to demonstrate how they will benefit the City of Melbourne’s waste and recycling systems. The funding can be used for both new projects and existing initiatives.
Ms Oke said the fund was just one way Council was working towards building a circular economy, in which everything has value and nothing is wasted.
“Whether it’s home composting and using worm farms to reduce organic waste, or coming up with a solution for glass recycling, we can all have an impact,” she said.
Applications close on Wednesday 16 October 2019.
For further information visit www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/wastegrants.
