Pursuant to section 38 of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, I, the Honourable David Parker, Minister for the Environment, set the following criteria for approving funding of a project under the Waste Minimisation Fund.

I have obtained and considered the advice of the Waste Advisory Board prior to setting these criteria.

Purpose of the Fund

The purpose of the Waste Minimisation Fund is to boost New Zealand’s performance in waste minimisation. There is considerable scope to reduce waste and increase the recovery of useful resources from waste.

Lifting our performance in recovering economic value from waste also provides environmental, social and cultural benefits and reduces the risks of harm from waste. Achieving these objectives will require investment in infrastructure and systems for waste minimisation and developing educational and promotional capacity. The purpose of the fund is to provide some of the funding to ensure that this occurs.

Eligibility criteria

1. Only waste minimisation projects are eligible for funding. Projects must promote or achieve waste minimisation. Waste minimisation covers the reduction of waste and the reuse, recycling and recovery of waste and diverted material.
2. Projects must promote or achieve new waste minimisation activity, either by implementing new initiatives or a significant expansion in the scope or coverage of existing activities.
3. Funding is not for the ongoing financial support of existing activities, nor is it for the running costs of the existing activities of organisations, individuals, councils or firms.
4. Projects should be for a discrete timeframe, after which the project objectives will have been achieved and, where appropriate, the initiative will become self-funding.
5. Funding can be for operational or capital expenditure required to undertake a project.
6. For projects where alternative, more suitable, Government funding streams are available (such as the Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund or research funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), applicants should apply to these funding sources before applying to the Waste Minimisation Fund.
7. The applicant must be a legal entity.
8. The fund will not cover the entire cost of the project. Applicants will need part funding from other sources.
9. The minimum grant for research and development, or innovation projects (including business cases, feasibility studies and pilots) will be $50,000.00. The minimum grant for all other project types will be $150,000.00.

Scope

10. The scope of the fund includes, but is not limited to:
• educational projects that promote waste minimisation activity;
• projects that address litter;
• projects focused on gaining an understanding of existing waste quantities and composition, behaviour, or economic incentives, as a precursor to effectively reducing waste and/or increasing reuse, recycling, and recovery of waste materials;
• the design of targeted product stewardship schemes to promote and achieve waste minimisation in line with the Ministry’s strategic priorities.

Assessment criteria

Project benefits

1. Preference will be given to projects that help achieve the strategic outcomes identified by the Ministry for the Environment from time to time (if any).
2. Preference will be given to projects that collectively give the largest net benefit over time. The assessment of the effectiveness of projects will include the extent to which the projects can demonstrate:
• likelihood of success;
• reduction of harm to the environment;
• reduction in the volume of waste disposed of;
• economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits;
• longer term benefits after the completion of the project;
• alignment to waste minimisation activities with outcomes consistent with the circular economy concept;
• consideration of climate change impacts arising from waste-related activities.
3. Projects will be assessed for their strategic value in achieving the purpose of the fund. Strategic value means the likely ability of projects to act as catalysts that enhance and extend the uptake of waste minimisation.
4. Consideration will be given to projects that are aligned with the new Aotearoa New Zealand Waste Strategy and/or are implementing one or more of the key actions of Te hau mārohi ki anamata – Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan.
5. The degree of partnership and cross-sectoral collaboration will be taken into account in assessing the strategic value of proposals.
6. The level of funding from other sources will be taken into account. Shared funding is preferred.

Project delivery

7. The applicant must demonstrate:
• ability to deliver the project;
• how the project will achieve its goals;
• how the effectiveness of the project will be monitored, evaluated and reported;
• if and how the project will be used to promote waste minimisation to the wider public;
• if and how the project will continue after funding ends and become self-sustaining, particularly if the funding is for the establishment phase of a longer-term project.

The criteria for the Waste Minimisation Fund published in the New Zealand Gazette, 8 October 2009, No. 148, page 3585, then in the New Zealand Gazette, 14 April 2016, Issue No. 31, Notice No. 2016-go2098, and the New Zealand Gazette, 1 April 2019, Notice No. 2019-go1460 are revoked.

This notice takes effect the day after the date of publication in the New Zealand Gazette.

Dated this 16th day of September 2022.

Hon DAVID PARKER, Minister for the Environment.