Grants to Protect Our Local Environment And Reduce Waste

Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast Gareth Ward MP has today announced today that $500,000 funding in grants is available to combat illegal dumping and grants of up to $200,000 are now open to support innovative projects to develop markets for compost made from recycled food and garden waste. 

Mr Ward said: “The program is available to Councils, public land managers and community groups to establish illegal dumping baseline data, and to clean-up and prevent illegal dumping”.

“The grant program has been running since 2014 and has awarded $6.3 million to projects that combat illegal dumping.

“This has included the installation of gates, signs, surveillance cameras and fencing to tackle illegal dumping along with the removal of thousands of tonnes of illegally dumped waste.

“This significantly contributes to the Government’s target of reducing illegal dumping by 30% by 2020.

“The grant program is funded under the Waste Less Recycle More initiative, administered by the EPA.

“The EPA works with local council to tackle illegal dumping, and I encourage councils and public land managers in the region to take up this grant opportunity to help protect the beautiful South Coast environment,” Mr Ward said.

Grants of up to $200,000 are also now open to support innovative projects to develop markets for compost made from recycled food and garden waste. 

Mr Ward said: “The grants are designed to ensure the community’s efforts in recycling food and garden wastes are supported by strong, healthy and economically viable markets for the end product.

“Previous rounds have provided $4.8 million to support 32 projects to expand markets for compost, including for use on sporting fields, roadside rehabilitation, vegetable crops, nut-tree crops, pastures and weed control.

“The benefits include improved soil health, better water retention and increased crop yields.

“Recovering food and garden waste from landfill helps combat greenhouse gas emissions and make our farms more resilient in the face of increasing droughts.

“Previously there was overwhelming feedback from the community indicating that they were supportive of measures that increase recycling, reduce costs and help protect the local environment, such as kerbside green lid bins.

“The funding available is the perfect opportunity to help develop a system and market to deal with our organic waste and compost in the absence of the green lid bins.

“I strongly encourage Shoalhaven City Council and local organisations to apply for their share of the funding,” Mr Ward said.

Applications are open until 22nd November 2018 and are open to a wide range of eligible organisations, including business, councils and agricultural and industry associations.

An information webinar is being held on 16th October 2018 to assist potential applicants. For more information and to register visit the EPA website at: www.epa.nsw.gov.au/organics.