The Hazardous Waste Fund has announced an additional $4.5 million in grant funding to support hazardous waste infrastructure projects. Funding is available to industry (including for profit and not-for-profit organisations) and local government.

Deadlines and Timings

Applications close on 25 July 2023, at 11:59 PM AEST.

There will be 2 information sessions. Sessions will be online via Teams. A recording will be available after the session.

Session 1 Date: Tuesday 20 June 2023.

Session 2 Date: Thursday 29 June 2023.

Time: 11 am to 12 pm AEST

Overview and Grant Amount

The fund aims to build the capacity, capability, and resilience of Victoria’s resource recovery sector to increase local reprocessing of hazardous waste and improve the use and quality of recycled materials to make new products. Projects must meet 2 or more of the fund objectives:

• Increase the recovery and local reprocessing of hazardous waste, and to manage those materials in line with the waste hierarchy.
• Increase the use and quality of recycled materials for remanufacturing and to make new products.
• Increase economic development opportunities such as jobs, economic performance, and growth of precincts.
• Reduce the amount and impact of waste going to landfill.

The hazardous waste stream is seeking projects that will achieve one or more of the following outcomes:

• diversion of wastes from Category B landfill disposal
• increased diversion of low-level contaminated soils from landfill disposal
• increased recovery of hazardous wastes for reuse, recycling or energy recovery
• improved management of hazardous wastes for reuse, recycling or energy recovery

Total available grant funding for Round 3 is $4,500,000. There is no funding cap per project. Notification of outcome will be delayed for funding requests of $2 million or more as these requests have additional approval requirements. Applicants are required to meet the following minimum cash contribution:

• industry must co-contribute at least $2 for every $1 funded
• local government must co-contribute at least $1 for every $1 funded

Co-contribution must be financial (cash) and cannot include In-kind contributions.

Other grant funding including from federal, state, or local government cannot be counted toward applicant’s co-contribution.

Eligibility and Criteria

An eligible organisation must be one of the following organisation types:

• industry
• local government

Applicants must:

• have a current Australian Business Number (ABN), or have a joint venture partner with one, or commits to establish an Australian company prior to commencing project
• be a business or local government that has existing hazardous waste facilities in Victoria, or are proposing a new facility to be located in Victoria
• be able to demonstrate financial viability to undertake the project (must meet or exceed the minimum co-contribution requirements)
• agree to comply with the Terms of Participation in Grant Programs
• agree to comply with the Short form funding agreement for funding of $50,000 or less, or the General Funding agreement for funding more than $50,000
• submit their Fair Jobs Code Pre-Assessment Certificate number with their application if applying for $500,000 or more (exclusive of GST); at a minimum proof of application for the certificate must be submitted with their grant application if certificate has not been received when application closes
• demonstrate financial capability to undertake the project
• demonstrate market supply of the material feedstocks and demand for the processed products. Applications with secured feedstock and end markets will be assessed more favourably by the assessment panel

Applicants must have existing hazardous waste reprocessing, recycling or treatment facility in Victoria or are proposing a new hazardous waste reprocessing, recycling or treatment waste facility to be located in Victoria and have been operating for a minimum of 2 years in Australia. This funding grant encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.

Funding Use

The funding aims to diversify and attract new investment to increase the quality of hazardous wastes recovered for recycling. It is also targeted towards attracting reprocessing infrastructure to increase the quantity of materials re-entering manufacturing streams and improving the circularity of materials. Funding may be focused on and provided for:

• new equipment, new facility or upgrade of existing facilities to increase domestic recovery of contaminated soils, RPW and specified priority wastes
• capital purchases, installation and commissioning of infrastructure or equipment
• pre-construction (site preparation) such as site clearing, earthworks or site accessibility works directly associated with the installation of new equipment
• construction/modification of buildings to house the new equipment (pre-construction works through to commissioning stage)

Projects must:

• be located in Victoria
• be commissioned and operational/completed by 31 May 2025
• meet regulatory or planning requirements and are not being undertaken to comply with regulation or a regulatory notice or order
• have outcomes that are directly attributable to the SV grant funding
• not be seeking funding for research, demonstration and development
• not have received funding or support for the same activities from other sources

Multiple applications may be submitted. Each application must be for a different project. An application must not be for multiple projects.

For more information, interested parties are encouraged to read the program guidelines set by the funding grant. Submissions must be lodged through their online portal.

Expert Assistance

We have over 14 years of experience preparing EMDG and R&D tax incentive claims and can assist in making sure you receive your maximum rebate.

Working with us means you get the maximum grant with minimum risk and effort. Our expertise includes R&D Tax Incentive registration and tax schedules, Export Grants, Capital Expenditure and Infrastructure Grants.

Get in touch with us and let’s discuss this more in detail.

For information about other Australian Government Grants, visit Treadstone New Grants page and sign up to our newsletter!