Circular Economy Business Support Fund – Round 2, Stream 1: Develop a circular economy business case

Round 2 of the Business Support Fund supports the development and implementation of Circular economy Business models and practices that avoid waste generation in Victoria.

Projects eligible for funding include those that:

• avoid waste of products and materials
• extend the useful life of products
• increase shared use, access or ownership of products
• replace products with services
• produce products and services using less materials
• upcycle pre-consumer food or Textile waste.

Projects focused on Recycling, Recycled content products and Bioenergy are not eligible for this fund. For more information about other grants and funding at Sustainability Victoria, visit the Grants and funding page.

The fund is distributed through 2 streams:

• Stream 1: Develop a Circular economy Business case
• Stream 2: Implement a Circular economy Business case.

Applications to Stream 1 must develop Circular economy Business models or practices with the potential to avoid waste in Victoria.

Applications to Stream 2 must implement Circular economy Business models or practices that will directly avoid waste in Victoria.

Information bulletin

Find out more in the Information bulletin and supporting events.

1. Fund overview

Circular economy Business models and practices are those that design out waste and pollution, extend the use of products and materials, and regenerate natural systems. They transform how we make and use products.

Round 2 of the Business Support Fund supports circular Business models and practices that avoid waste in Victoria. The Circular economy Business models supported by the Fund include:

• Product Life Extension models that extend the useful life of products and materials, including:
  • Maintenance and repair: prevent breakages or fix issues
  • Refurbishment and Remanufacturing: restoration of degraded products to ‘as new'
  • Re-use: products or materials are Re-used as is, without further processing
  • Prepare for Re-use: collect, check, clean, or repair waste products or components to be Re-used without further processing
  • Resale: used or second-hand products are resold to avoid waste
  • Incentivised return: incentivising for the return of used products for Re-use
  • Redistribute: collect and Redistribute surplus products, often to improve social equality
  • Upgrade: improve products instead of replacing them.
• Sharing models that enable increased use of products by making possible shared use, access or ownership
• Product as a Service models that replace product ownership with services, often via a subscription service
• Resource Recovery models which are limited (in this fund) to those focused on upcycling pre-consumer food or Textile waste.

The Circular economy Business practices supported by the Fund include:

• Materials Efficiency: improved processes to reduce waste in the production of products and services
• Circular design and marketing: design and marketing to improve Resource Efficiency and extend the life and value of products and materials during their Use phase, including certification schemes
• Product stewardship: taking responsibility for the product during the Use phase
• Waste avoidance: practices that avoid waste of products and materials in the supply chain
• Circular economy enablers: supply or adoption of processes, technologies, training and advice.

1.1 Fund objectives

The primary goal of this fund is to avoid waste in Victoria, which includes improved Materials Efficiency and upcycling. All projects must support this objective.

Projects that also create new Direct Jobs in Victoria will be viewed favourably.

1.2 Funding available

Each project can receive a grant between $50,000 and $200,000.

1.3 Co-contribution

• The Lead Applicant and any Collaborative Partners must together contribute at least $1 for every $1 funded (1:1 Co-contribution).
• Other grants cannot be used for Co-contribution.
• Only the Lead Applicant and any Collaborative Partners can make Co-contributions. Other parties, including Delivery Partners, cannot make Co-contributions.
• Co-contributions can be either financial (cash) or In-kind.
• At least 50% of the Co-contribution must be a cash contribution.

2. Eligibility

2.1 Who can apply

Applicants may apply as either as a single organisation, or as a collaborative project with multiple organisations.

Lead Applicant

All applications require a single Lead Applicant, who will be the responsible Contracting Party.

Only the following organisations can apply as a lead applicant to the Business Support Fund.

• Commercial / For-profit Businesses including:
  • Companies
  • Trusts
  • Co-operatives
  • Indigenous corporations
  • Joint ventures
  • Social Enterprises
• Industry groups and Associations

The Lead Applicant must also:

• have a current Australian Business Number (ABN)
• have been operating for a minimum of 2 years by the application closing date (to be validated by the date that the organisation’s ABN is active from)
• meet or exceed the minimum Co-contribution requirements
• lead any Collaborative Partnership according to requirements
• agree to comply with the Terms of Participation in Grant Programs
  
• agree to comply with the funding terms and conditions as per the General grant funding agreement.

Applicants who do not agree with the Grant Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions will be asked to provide full details of proposed amendments that would render the contractual provision acceptable to the Applicant in the SmartyGrants application form. Applicants should note that significant or substantive variations will not be viewed favourably unless the Applicant is able to demonstrate the necessity for such variations. Should applicants be successful, no further amendments to Sustainability Victoria’s standard terms and conditions will be considered beyond the variations included in the application form.

Collaborative Partner(s) (optional)

Applicants may establish collaborative relationships with other organisations as required to support project delivery. These other organisations will be considered as Collaborative Partners.

The Contracting Party may choose to have one or more Collaborative Partner(s). This is optional.

The Collaborative Partner can be from any organisation that has:

• a direct, clear role in the project
• a current ABN
• a demonstrated Co-contribution to the project.

Each Collaborative Partner will be publicly announced as a Collaborative Partner should funding be awarded.

Collaborative Partnerships must have a formal agreement, such as a memorandum of understanding, in place before the project commences.

The Project Team

Together, the Lead Applicant plus any Collaborative Partners or Delivery Partners are referred to as the “Project Team”. The panel will consider the whole Project Team when assessing the merit criteria ‘Who’.

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

Sustainability Victoria manages several grants. Although you can apply for more than one grant for a project, you can only receive one grant. If you’ve already applied for a Sustainability Victoria grant and now find this grant is more relevant or suitable, you can withdraw your application by emailing us.

2.2 Who cannot apply

The following cannot apply for funding as a Lead Applicant:

• Charities
• Other not for profit organisations
• Federal, state, or local government, including water corporations
• Research institutions including schools, universities, and TAFEs
• Sole traders
• Any organisation operating with an ABN less than 2 years at the fund closing date
• Any organisation does not meet all requirements set out under 2.1.

Also, Lead Applicants and/or Collaborative Partners (including other Collaborative Partners) cannot apply for funding if they:

• are insolvent
• have an owner or director who is an undischarged bankrupt
• do not have a current ABN.

2.3 What will be funded

Projects must develop Circular economy Business models or practices with the potential to directly avoid at least 500 tonnes of waste in Victoria.

Note: The 500 tonnes waste avoidance target is the minimum eligibility criteria to apply. As this is a competitive grant round, projects that avoid more waste will score higher under the merit-criteria ‘What’.

All projects must also:

• not have started before the funding agreement is signed
• start within 3 months after the project has been awarded funding
• meet all regulatory or planning requirements by 28 February 2023
• focus on developing projects to be implemented in Victoria
• be completed by November 2023.

Activities should focus on developing Circular economy Business models or practices with the potential to avoid waste in Victoria, and may include (but is not limited to):

• feasibility studies
• product and service design
• Business model design
• financial and non-financial assessments
• circularity assessments (e.g., materials flow analysis, hotspots analysis, lifecycle analysis)
• Materials Efficiency assessments
• pilots, trials, and demonstrations
• Business advisory services and support
• market development, research and analysis
• delivering a Startup Accelerator
• project evaluation and approval
• Business plan or Business case development
• developing and launching a major project output (e.g., an industry action plan)
• product stewardship services to extend product life during the Use phase only.

Project costs must be directly related to the project and can include:

• new staff costs (such as salaries)
• existing staff costs (such as salaries)
• consultants
• contractor services
• marketing, advertising and promotion
• market research and surveys
• venue and equipment hire
• legal costs (such as costs to obtain IP)
• printing
• design and copywriting
• installation and commissioning
• freight
• project management costs
• capital purchases and assets (infrastructure, plant and equipment)
• other project execution costs (you must specify any other costs)
• leasing assets (excluding vehicles).

2.4 What will not be funded

Funding will not be provided for projects and activities focused on:

• Recycling collection, sorting, transport and infrastructure
• Recycling processing (including composting, mulching, fertilisers and biochar)
• replacing virgin materials with Recycled materials in products or services
• increasing the content of Recycled materials in products
• Waste to energy, Bioenergy and Bioenergy fuels (including anaerobic digestion)
• litter, microplastics and illegal dumping
• bioplastics, biodegradable plastics or compostable plastics
• developing or improving facilities operated by government, charities or communities
• aggregates and soils
• energy, emissions or water (although these may be co-benefits of projects)
• product stewardship focused on Recycling.

These projects will also not be funded:

• projects that have received funding or support for the same activities from other sources
• requests for retrospective funding, where the project activities are completed or have commenced prior to signing a funding agreement with Sustainability Victoria
• projects that are being undertaken to comply with regulation or a regulatory notice or order
• projects that do not meet regulatory or planning requirements.

The following project costs are also ineligible for funding:

• lease or purchase of land
• permit, licensing and approval costs
• routine or cyclical maintenance works
• repair of facilities damaged by vandalism, fire or other natural disasters where damage should be covered by insurance
• operating or Business-as-usual costs (such as electricity, water and other utilities)
• existing staff costs (such as salaries) that are not demonstrated to be directly related to the project
• purchase of vehicles (such as front-end loaders or forklifts)
• pre-construction (site preparation) such as site clearing, earthworks or accessibility works
• travel and attendance at conferences
• catering
• contingency costs.

3. Assessment process

3.1 Assessment criteria

The assessment panel will assess the application based on merit according to the criteria below.

What

Weighting: 50%

• What is the problem you seek to address?
• What is your solution?
• What evidence do you have that your solution will address the problem?
• What products, materials or waste does your project target?
• Is this product, material or waste disposed to a Waste destination?
• How much waste or material use has the potential to be avoided because of this project?
  • Amount (tonnes per annum)
  • How has this been calculated?
• How many Direct Jobs will your project create?
• What Circular economy Business models or practices will your project focus on?

Do you have any additional information to support your application (e.g., a report, a pre-feasibility study etc)?

Who

Weighting: 20%

• Demonstrate that the Project Team can deliver the project in terms of capability (skills) and capacity (resources), including:
  • their roles and responsibilities
  • their relevant experience delivering similar projects
  • the Co-contribution that has been committed to the project (by each respective party).
• Do you have any letters of support from organisations or individuals relevant to the project, including (but not limited to) collaborative partners?

How

Weighting: 30%

Our funding agreements include a series of project milestones. Each milestone includes activities and outputs you will undertake and deliver to complete your project. Milestones may include one major activity, or several smaller activities. After each milestone is completed and approved by Sustainability Victoria, milestone funding will be paid to you.

Please complete the milestone table with:

• tasks (the activities you will undertake to complete the milestone)
• deliverables (outputs you will generate by undertaking these tasks)
• start and end date (when the milestone activities will start and finish)
• total milestone cost (including any Co-contribution and the funding requested).

Complete the Budget Table with details for each eligible cost. For each cost item, you must include a description of the item, the funding requested, plus financial and In-kind Contributions.

How will the outputs of your project be shared and communicated?

Please attach the following documents (optional but highly recommended):

• A Project Plan or Gantt Chart
• Quotes for any costs over $50,000

Attach any other supporting information.

3.2 Diversity consideration

Sustainability Victoria may overlay rankings to achieve an overall mix of projects that represent:

• a geographical spread across Victorian regions
• a variety of:
  • project outcomes
  • project types
  • material types
  • supply chains or sectors.
• inclusion of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Businesses that are at least 50% Indigenous owned and managed and the owner or manager:
  • is of Aboriginal or Torres Islander descent or both
  • identifies as an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, or both
  • is recognised as such by their community.
• a spread across types of applicants.

3.3 Due diligence checks

A risk-based approach will be used to assess the Lead Applicant’s social, economic and environmental risks in relation to the project. This assessment will include the Applicant’s Related Entities and may include Collaborative Partners. (see Section 9: Program definitions).

Lead Applicants (and their Related Entities and, if applicable, their Collaborative Partners) must:

• have had no Environmental, Safety or Workplace Breaches in the last five years or, if there was a breach, Sustainability Victoria may assess that the Applicant’s breach poses a satisfactory level of risk;
• have not been the subject of an enforceable undertaking or successful litigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman for a breach of the Fair Work Act 2009 or a fair work instrument within the last five years;
• demonstrate financial capability to undertake the project;
• have adequate insurance as outlined in the General Grant funding agreement such as:
  • Public liability, $10M minimum
  • Professional indemnity, $5M minimum (if required)
  • WorkCover
• have not failed to satisfactorily progress or complete previous projects funded by Sustainability Victoria within funding program timelines and without sufficient reason; and
• manage any conflicts of interest adequately.

Assessment of satisfactory level of risk will include but not be limited to Sustainability Victoria’s consideration of:

• the seriousness of any finding/s;
• whether the finding/s has been resolved to the satisfaction of the relevant enforcement agency, or the Lead Applicant can demonstrate it is working effectively to resolve the finding;
• the efforts made by the Lead Applicant including implementation of management systems, to ensure no further finding/s occur; and
• whether, since the finding, the Lead Applicant has had a satisfactory level of compliance with relevant Environmental and Safety Laws and Workplace Laws.

Sustainability Victoria may conduct due diligence checks on the Collaborative Partners involved in the delivery of the project. The Lead Applicant must ensure that any Collaborative Partners agree to cooperate with this requirement and will provide information at Sustainability Victoria’s request.

Sustainability Victoria reserves the right not to award funding to Lead Applicants where the due diligence risk (including that of Collaborative Partners) is unsatisfactory or not able to be managed.

4. Funding conditions

Successful applicants approved for funding must do the following.

4.1 Before starting the project

• Participate in an inception meeting to discuss project and funding agreement.
• Agree to realistic evidence-based and performance-based milestone payments.
• Provide Sustainability Victoria with insurance certificates of currency.
• Sign Sustainability Victoria’s General Grant Funding Agreement.

4.2 During and after the project

• Deliver the project as outlined in the application and comply with the funding agreement.
• Attend progress update meetings and provide a written update in advance of these meetings. Sustainability Victoria will hold at least one meeting every 2 months.
• Provide evidence of funding expenditure and performance at agreed milestones.
• Notify Sustainability Victoria immediately about any delay or change to the project.
• Provide adequate monitoring and evaluation of the project.
• Collect and provide baseline and ongoing project outcome and evaluation data to Sustainability Victoria.
• Provide a publishable version of project outputs where agreed. These lessons learned will be shared with the Victorian community.
• Contribute to the project’s promotional activities (for example, provide Sustainability Victoria with support by reviewing and approving written stories or videos).
• Participate in and contribute to Sustainability Victoria activities to distribute the findings to broader stakeholders (for example, government and industry).
• Acknowledge that Sustainability Victoria has contributed funding in all communications related to the project.

5. Timeline

Dates may change.

We will provide applicants with updates as much as possible and when necessary.

Workshop 1: Circular Economy ‘Beyond Recycling’ for Business (May 10 and May 17)

Workshop 2: How to write a Business Model Canvas for the circular economy (June 15)

Workshop 3: How to Build a Circular Economy Business Plan (Date TBC)

Applications open: Wednesday 25 May 2022

Information session: Tuesday 7 June 2022. Register for the Information session.

Application writing workshop: Thursday 23 June 2022

Applications close: Thursday 7 July 2022

Assessment and approvals: July to October

Announcement of outcomes: October 2022

Funding agreements established and projects commenced: Within 3 months of announcement of successful projects. The start date can be discussed at the point of establishing funding agreements.

Planning and regulatory approvals in place, where required: By February 28, 2023

Project completed by: November 2023

6. How to apply

Before applying, we recommend you attend an information session or watch the recording.

The grant program involves a competitive, merit-based application process.

1. Ensure that your organisation can apply.
2. Ensure that your project is eligible.
3. Read Sustainability Victoria’s General grant funding agreement. You must agree to and meet all the terms and conditions to ensure funding.
4. Read Sustainability Victoria’s Terms of participation in grant programs.
5. Create an account and start your application on the SmartyGrants website when the fund opens.
6. Submit your application by 11:59 pm, Thursday 7 July 2022. Late applications will not be accepted except under exceptional circumstances.

Your application

• Allow adequate time to plan, research, gather supporting documentation and draft your application.
• As this is a competitive grant, we cannot review drafts or provide feedback.
• You must use SmartyGrants, unless you have written permission from Sustainability Victoria.

Tips for using SmartyGrants

• Click ‘Save progress’ every 10 to 15 minutes. This prevents your data from being lost if something happens when you’re filling in the form. You will be automatically logged out of the system after 60 minutes of inactivity (where you did not click ‘Save progress’ or navigate between pages). Once logged out, you will close any changes that were not saved.
• Wait for your file to be uploaded. Wait for your document to be successfully attached before going to another page. If not, the file upload will be cancelled. The maximum size per file is 25MB.
• Once you have submitted your application, you cannot make any changes. Check your application carefully.
• You will receive a confirmation email. When your application has been submitted successfully, you will get an automatic receipt from SmartyGrants.
• For any technical issues, please contact SmartyGrants on (03) 9320 6888 during business hours.

7. Assistance available

7.1 Information sessions

Before the round opens, there will be a getting ready information session. This will help you start preparing for your application and is a chance to learn about outcomes from the previous round including what made applications successful or unsuccessful.

While the round is open, there will be an online information session and an online grant writing workshop. A recording will be available after the session.

7.2 Contact us

We cannot review drafts or provide feedback.

Phone: +61 3 8656 6757 Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Email: grants.enquiries@sustainability.vic.gov.au

In the subject line, use the grant name: RV Business Support Fund

8. Why the Victorian Government is providing this funding

The BSF is delivered by Sustainability Victoria through the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC) which fosters Business innovation to avoid waste, save money, increase Re-use, and generate new streams of revenue for Businesses.

This fund is part of the Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria policy which includes targets to reduce total waste generation by 15% per capita by 2030.

Action 1.2 of the policy is the delivery of the Business Innovation Fund (BSF) to help Businesses improve Resource Efficiency, reduce waste to landfill, increase Recycling and reduce Business costs.

Each round of the Business Support Fund may target different areas of the policy to support overall program delivery is achieved. While Round 1 included a focus on innovative Recycling projects, Round 2 has a specific focus on waste avoidance and Materials Efficiency.

9. Definitions

Bioenergy

Bioenergy is the production of energy from biomass materials such as the by-products of agricultural, food and forestry industries, as well as domestic and industrial waste management systems. Examples include anaerobic digestion, fermentation, liquefaction, pyrolysis, gasification, plasma techno, torrefaction, direct combustion (incineration), indirect combustion, hydrothermal carbonisation.

Bioenergy fuels

This refers to liquid fuel derived directly from biomass, for example, biodiesel (a diesel substitute) and bioethanol.

Business

A commercial enterprise seeking to generate profit through its activities. For the purpose of this funds, as defined by Business Victoria, Businesses include (and are limited to):

• Companies
• Partnerships
• Trusts
• Co-operatives
• Indigenous Corporations
• Joint Ventures
• Social Enterprises
• Sole Traders (cannot apply as a Lead Applicant in this Fund)

To read more, visit Business Victoria.

Circular economy

The Recycling Victoria policy describes a Circular economy as:

“A Circular economy continually seeks to reduce the environmental impacts of production and consumption, while enabling economic growth through more productive use of natural resources It allows us to avoid waste with good design and effective recovery of materials that can be Re-used. It promotes more efficient Business models that encourage intense and efficient product use, such as sharing products between multiple users, or supplying a product as a service that includes maintenance, repair and disposal.

The value people obtain from the resources used to create goods and services increases. It transforms our linear economy mindset—take, use and throw away—and fosters Innovation and productivity that invigorates existing Businesses and creates new ones, delivering more jobs and more growth for local, regional, state and global economies.”

Co-contribution

The required cash or In-kind Contribution to the total project income, made by the Lead Applicant and the Collaborative Partner(s).

Direct Jobs

Actual new Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions created by your project. This can include training or upskilling of employees who would otherwise be made redundant through the implementation of your project.

Environmental, Safety or Workplace Breach

An environmental or safety breach is any past or current prosecution, reportable incident, investigation, notice, penalty, warning, regulatory intervention or enforcement action from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), Victorian WorkCover Authority (WorkSafe) or Fair Work or failure to comply with any environmental, safety and Workplace Laws.

Environmental and Safety Laws

Environmental and Safety Laws are the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, Environment Protection Act 2017 or any other legislation, regulation, order, statute, by-law, ordinance or any other legislative or regulatory measure, code, standard or requirement relating to the protection and safety of persons or property or which regulate the environment including laws relating to land use planning, pollution of air or water, soil or groundwater contamination, chemicals, waste, the use, handling, storage or transport of dangerous goods or substances, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon trading, or any other aspect of protection of the environment.

Full-Time Equivalent Employees (FTE)

The hours worked by one employee on a full-time basis.

Calculating FTE

The calculation is used to convert the hours worked by several part-time employees into the hours worked by Full-Time Employees. For example, you have three employees working the following – 40, 40 and 20 hours per week, giving you 100 hours per week in total.

Assuming full-time hours are 40 hours per week, your Full-Time calculation is 100 hours divided by 40 hours which equals 2.5 FTE.

Industry Groups and Associations

An industry peak body, representative industry association or group, or an industry-owned Rural Research and Development Corporation (industry-owned companies).

In-kind Contribution

An In-kind Contribution is a contribution of a good or a service other than cash.

In-kind Contributions should include the cost for activities that are directly related to delivering your project. Examples include:

• staff time to manage project implementation (project management and installation costs that utilise existing internal resources);
• time spent on project activities by volunteers; and
• donated goods or services related to the project.

The following activities cannot be considered as In-kind Contributions:

• operating expenses that are not directly associated with delivering the project; and
• opportunity costs such as staff ‘downtime’ during the installation of equipment or implementation of activities.

Applicants must fairly justify how they determined the dollar value for In-kind Contributions.

Materials Efficiency / Resource Efficiency

Materials Efficiency is about doing more with less and ultimately saving money. It means producing a product or service using less input materials or producing more product or service for the same amount of material.

There are many actions that Businesses can take to improve Materials Efficiency ranging from process or systems changes to reduce wastage or improve productivity; through changing how input materials are measured and loaded; to redesigning products and services so they use less material to make. Wasted or unused materials is lost revenue. Simply put, it’s money down the drain.

Related Entities

Entities which are related to the Lead Applicant, including:

• holding companies of the Applicant
• subsidiaries of the Applicant
• subsidiaries of holding companies of the Applicant
• companies with common directors or shareholders as the Applicant
• companies that are a beneficiary under a trust of which the Applicant is a trustee
• trustees of a trust under which the Applicant is a beneficiary
• companies that conduct Business at the same address as the Applicant, or the same address as the location of the activity for which the funding is sought.

Recycling

Typically refers to converting waste into a reusable material and often then using recovered material to produce something new. It is a term that may be used to cover a wide range of activities, including collection, sorting, reprocessing and manufacture into new products.

Recycled content products

Production of new products using materials recovered from Recycling processes, for example the production of new PET bottles using Recycled plastics as the material input (rPET).

Re-use

A process defined as using a product more than once in its original form, for the same purpose or a different purpose, by buying or otherwise obtaining second-hand items; renting or accessing products through a sharing platform; and/or repairing products rather than discarding and purchasing a replacement.

Remanufacture

A comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, leased, used, worn, or non-functional product or part is returned to a “like-new” or “better-than-new” condition, from both a quality and performance perspective, through a controlled, reproducible, and sustainable process (ANSI Standard).

Refurbishment

Like Remanufacturing, Refurbishment can refer to range of processes, from testing to rebuilding. A product can be Refurbished by the original manufacturer, the original vendor or another third party. At a minimum, a Refurbished product should function properly and without defect. Refurbishment is often a less thorough and costly process compared to Remanufacture as the vendor is not required to meet the ANSI Standard of Remanufactured. Refurbished is generally superior to a ‘used’ product, which may not be tested and may or may not be defective or lesser quality in some way.

Redistribution

A process whereby surplus un-used products (often food) that would otherwise have ended up as waste are, instead, made available for people to use or consume. In the Circular economy, Redistribution is similar to ‘Re-use’ however this definition is not suitable for food and other products that have not yet been used or may only be used a single time (e.g. collecting unsold bread from a bakery and Redistributing it to people in need).

Risks associated with climate change

Risks may include extreme weather events, sea-level rise and storm surge, increased fire danger and reduced rainfall. The planning for the development of new infrastructure or the upgrading of existing infrastructure is an appropriate time to examine the associated risks. Risks will also arise from the impact of climate change to infrastructure which may be beyond the boundaries of the facility and may influence its location or siting. For example, an increase in flooding may impact a facility for which the access requires passage over low lying roads. For more information, applicants may wish to refer to climate change information and resources at Climate Change in Australia and Victorian climate projections 2019 published by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and CSIRO.

Social Enterprise

A Social Enterprise is a Business that trades to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training, or help the environment.

Social Enterprises:

• are driven by a public or community cause, be it social, environmental, cultural or economic
• derive most of their income from trade, not donations or grants
• use the majority (at least 50%) of their profits to work towards their social mission.

A Social Enterprise is considered an Individual Business for the purposes of this grants program.

Startup Accelerator

Startup Accelerators support early-stage, growth-driven companies through education, mentorship, and financing. Startups enter accelerators for a fixed period of time, and as part of a cohort of companies. The accelerator experience is a process of intense, rapid, and immersive education aimed at accelerating the life cycle of young innovative companies, compressing years’ worth of learning-by-doing into just a few months. They are fixed-term, cohort-based, and mentorship-driven, and they generally culminate in a graduation that includes a “pitch night” or “demo day” (Hathaway, I, 2016, “What Startup Accelerators Really Do", Harvard Business Review).

Textiles

Textiles is more than just clothing. Textiles industries encompass a range of activities and materials including:

• clothing and footwear
• carpet and soft furnishings
• industrial Textiles and fibres.

Textile products are often made from multiple types of materials, both organic and synthetic. Commonly used Textiles often contain a complex mixture of materials that are difficult to separate and Recycle.

Upcycled food

Upcycled food products prevent food waste by creating new, high-quality products out of surplus food or food processing by-products. For this Fund, Upcycled foods are:

1. made from pre-consumer ingredients that would otherwise have ended up in a Waste destination (including surplus and by-product).
2. value-added products (including food ingredients and products)
3. for human or animal consumption (including pharmaceutical and nutraceutical).

Read more about Upcycled food.

Upcycled Textiles

Upcycled Textile products prevent Textile waste by creating new, high-quality products out of surplus Textiles or Textile processing by-products. For this Fund, Upcycled Textiles are:

1. made from pre-consumer materials that would otherwise have ended up in a Waste destination
2. value-added products, such as a new garment.

Use phase

Use phase is the entire period that a product or service is used or consumed.

Related Person/s

Related Person means a director, officer, employee, agent, board member or contractor of the Applicant or a Related Entity.

Waste destination

Waste destinations are specific locations where waste products are disposed to at their end of useful life, including resource recovery facilities.

In this fund, Waste destinations include (but are not limited to):

• landfill (including deep burial)
• combustion
• Waste to energy (or similar)
• sewer
• on-farm managed (e.g., incorporated into soil, applied to land, buried)
• Recycling (including composting)
• animal feed.

Waste to energy

Waste-to-energy technology is an energy recovery process that converts chemicals from waste residues into practical forms of energy like electricity, heat or steam.

Workplace Laws

Workplace Laws are the Fair Work Act 2009, or any other legislation, regulation order, statute, by-law, ordinance or any other legislative or regulatory measure, code, standard or requirement relating to the provision of fair, relevant and enforceable minimum terms and conditions for all persons and to prevent discrimination against employees.