Circular Economy Innovation Fund - Round 3

Round 3 of the Circular Economy Innovation Fund supports projects that focus on the research and development of innovative market solutions that apply circular design.

These projects prevent, minimise or eliminate waste and pollution and keep products and materials in use – at the highest value – for longer.

The projects must be:

• delivered by a Collaborative Partnership
• innovative (have never been done in Victoria before).

Projects must improve the environmental outcomes of products, services, industries, supply chains or systems and contribute to Victoria’s transition to a Circular Economy.

This grant is funded through the government’s Circular Economy policy, Recycling Victoria: a new economy.

Round 3 of the Fund is expected to open for applications on Tuesday 28 February 2023. The following are the guidelines for applying for this funding round.

Information bulletin

Find out more in the Information bulletin.

1. Fund overview

1.1 Fund objectives

Projects must contribute to 2 or more of the following outcomes:

• creation of new Circular Products and Services
• avoidance of waste materials to any waste or Recycling destination
• increase employment through direct creation of jobs
• increase capacity to extend the useable life of products
• reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Lessons learned from the projects will be shared with the Victorian community to stimulate further Innovation and accelerate the transition to a Circular Economy.

1.2 Funding available

Each project can receive a grant between $50,000 and $400,000 (ex GST).

1.3 Co-contribution

The Lead Applicant and Collaborative Partners must together contribute at least $1 for every $2 funded by Sustainability Victoria (1:2 Co-contribution).

• Co-contributions can be either financial (cash) or In-kind.
• At least 10% of the Co-contribution must be cash contribution.
• Other grants cannot be used for Co-contribution.
• Co-contributions must be for eligible activities (refer to 2.3 What will be funded).

2. Eligibility

2.1 Who can apply

The project must be delivered by at least 2 organisations. In such a group application (known as ‘Collaborative Partnership’), the main organisation responsible for delivering the project is the Lead Applicant, and the others are the Collaborative Partners.

Lead Applicant

All applications require a single Lead Applicant. Eligible Lead Applicant organisations must be one of the following organisation types:

• Research Institutions
• Businesses (Commercial for-profit)
• Social enterprises (must be currently registered with Social Traders or prove accreditation before entering into a funding agreement)
• Charities and other Not-for-profits that are listed on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) charity register
• Industry groups and Associations (also known as an industry trade association, Business Association, sector association or industry body, is an organisation founded and funded by Businesses that operate in a specific industry)
• Current Cooperative Research Centres
• Current Rural Research and Development Corporations.
  

And must:

• have a current Australian Business Number (ABN). If the Applicant is a Trust, the Trustee - as the proper Applicant - must meet this requirement.
• 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). If the Applicant is a Trust, the Trustee - as the proper Applicant - must meet this requirement.
• be able to demonstrate financial viability to undertake the project (will meet or exceed the minimum Co-contribution requirement)
• agree to comply with the Terms of Participation in Grant Programs.
• agree to comply with the General grant funding agreement terms and conditions.

The Lead Applicant is the responsible Contracting Party and is accountable for the application and project delivery, including coordinating Collaborative Partners. Only the Lead Applicant will receive grant funding. Any allocations of grant funding or financial Co-contribution between Collaborative Partners and Delivery Partners must be managed by the Lead Applicant.

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) (mandatory)

The Lead Applicant must have at least one Collaborative Partner who are a:

• Research Institution
• Business (Commercial for-profit and Social Enterprises)
• Charity or other Not-for-profit
• Industry groups or Association
• Government or local government organisation
• Community organisation or group.

Collaborative Partner(s) must:

• have a current ABN
• have a direct, clear role and demonstrated contribution (in-kind and/or cash contribution) that is significant to the delivery of the project
• not be Related Entities of the Lead Applicant. These will not count towards the minimum Collaborative Partner requirement.

A letter of support (or equivalent) must be provided by the Collaborative Partner(s), signed by an authorised representative, and must be provided with the application, detailing their:

• commitment to be publicly announced as a Project Partner should funding be awarded
• financial and/or In-kind Contribution to the project
• role and responsibilities to the project.

Each Collaborative Partner will be publicly announced as a Collaborative Partner should funding be awarded. The Collaborative Partnership must be then formalised through an agreement (MoU or equivalent) prior to the first milestone payment for projects who successfully receive funding.

There is no limit to how many organisations are involved as Collaborative Partners.

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

2.2 Who cannot apply

The following cannot apply for funding as a Lead Applicant (but can be a Collaborative Partner):

• Unincorporated Associations
• Federal, state, or local government, including water corporations (or entities owned by federal, state, local government and/or water corporations).
• Community organisations or groups
• Sole Traders.

2.3 What will be funded

Projects must be collaborative and explore an innovative market solution that aims to improve the environmental outcomes of products, services, industries, supply chains or systems and contribute to Victoria’s transition to a Circular Economy.

Projects must represent the research and development of an Innovation for Victoria – that it has not been done within Victoria previously.

Projects should demonstrate Circular Economy design solutions/ strategies to eliminate or minimise waste and pollution and/or keep products/ materials in use at their highest value for longer.

Examples of circular design solutions/ strategies that may be explored in projects include but are not limited to:

• Design for dematerialisation, minimise inputs, waste avoidance
• Design for durability, reuse, refill, sharing and resell
• Design for maintenance, repair, upgradability
• Design for Refurbishment, remanufacturing, disassembly/ reassembly

For more resources and examples of circular design visit: https://www.cebic.vic.gov.au/about-us/focus-areas/cebic-year-3-focus-area-design

Projects must contribute to two or more of the following outcomes:

• Creation of new Circular Products and Services
• Avoidance of waste materials to any waste or Recycling destination
• Increase employment through direct creation of jobs.
• Increase capacity to extend the useable life of products
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

All projects must also:

• meet all regulatory or planning requirements within 6 months of signing funding agreement
• ensure at least 50% of project activities are implemented in Victoria
• be completed by 15 December 2024.

Project types:

• Research and development

Project activities can include:

• research and feasibility studies
• case studies and business case development
• ideation or concept generation
• design and development of product, service, process and/or systems
• prototyping and testing
• experimental proof of concept
• small scale pilots, trials, and demonstrations.

The following project costs are eligible for funding:

• new or existing staff costs (such as salaries) that are demonstrated to be directly related to the project
• procurement of materials and services supporting research and development
• product testing and validation to ensure environmental and human health performance
• external consultancy or contract costs
• project management costs (this can be internal or external). If internal must demonstrate directly related to the project.
• capital costs (e.g., purchase or lease of infrastructure or equipment)
• project evaluation
• development of educational material that shares learnings and can be made publicly available
• purchase of specialised vehicles (e.g., front-end loaders, forklifts) where equipment is integral for the project to occur, and the Applicant demonstrates they are unable to proceed with the project without funding for the vehicle.

2.4 What will not be funded

Funding will not be provided for projects that focus on:

• products or materials not currently wasted
• product stewardship schemes
• council-focused initiatives
• community-focused initiatives
• individual business initiatives
• water and energy, GHG emissions (although these may be co-benefits to a material focused project)
• research that is not primarily based in Victoria
• large scale commercialisation (as an alternative, you may be eligible to apply under the Business Support Fund).

Funding will not be provided for project activities that focus on end-of-life strategies such as Recycling, waste management or energy recovery phases, including:

• waste Recycling (including feasibility, capability building, collection, infrastructure or any other aspects of waste Recycling) or Recycled Content Products (research, development, demonstration and commercialisation, standards and specifications)
• waste recovery (including feasibility, capability building, collection, infrastructure or any other aspects of waste recovery) litter and illegal dumping
• waste disposal (e.g., incineration, landfill, sewer)
• Waste to energy, Bioenergy and biofuel.

Funding will not be provided for projects that:

• are being undertaken to comply with regulation or a regulatory notice or order
• have received funding or support for the same activities from other sources
• do not meet regulatory or planning requirements
• do not demonstrate good value for money.

Funding will not be provided for requests for retrospective funding (where projects are completed or have commenced installation at the time of submitting the application or before entering into a Funding Agreement with SV).

Note: project equipment may be ordered or purchased following receipt of notification of grant approval, and prior to signing a Funding Agreement with SV to accommodate shipping and delivery time and prevent delays in completing the project at the Applicant’s own risk.

The following project costs are ineligible for funding:

• lease or purchase of land
• permit, licensing, 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
• staff costs (such as salaries) that are not directly related to the project
• operating costs or business-as-usual costs (e.g. electricity, water and other utilities)
• intellectual property (IP) costs
• marketing, advertising, promotional costs
• pre-construction (site preparation) such as site clearing, earthworks or site accessibility works
• travel, conferences and other internal staff educational activities
• catering
• contingency costs
• purchase of non-specialised vehicles that do not have an essential role in project delivery
• associated vehicle costs (including fuel, registration, servicing etc.).

3. Assessment process

3.1 Assessment criteria

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

What

Weighting: 40%

Describe what you are going to do and what outcomes it will deliver, including demonstrating:

• What is the proposed project – what is it going to do and why? What is the problem you seek to address?
• How the project is an Innovation for Victoria (never been done before)
• How your project contributes to the transition of Victoria to a Circular Economy - for example, explain how the solution is classified as circular and how the solution will provide better environmental and economic outcomes than existing market offerings.
• Why government funding is required
• Demonstrate and justify expected outcomes of project (must be 2 or more of the specified outcomes listed in 2.3 What will be funded).
• List any additional benefits you anticipate your project to produce during or post completion.

Who

Weighting: 30%

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, including the lead Applicants experience in leading collaborative projects
• the Co-contribution that has been committed to the project (by each respective party)
• benefits of the collaboration between the Lead Applicant and the Partners
• supplying letters of commitment from collaborative partners detailing Co-contribution and details of support.

How

Weighting: 30%

Demonstrate how the project will be delivered including identifying:

• the key stages, activities and deliverables to complete it (milestones)
• project budget detailing SV funding requests and Co-contribution from the Collaborative Partnerships (in-kind and/or cash) for eligible costs and expenditure items
• anticipated risks and management strategies for mitigation
• how learnings/ outputs will be shared and/or communicated to the broader community.
• details regarding sites, permits and any equipment/infrastructure that is required.
  

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 spread across types of Applicants
• a variety of:
  • types of Innovation
  • project outcomes
  • project types.

3.3 Due diligence checks

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

Applicants (and their Related Entities and, if applicable, their Project Partners and/or Project Participants) must:

• have had no Environmental, Safety or Workplace Breaches in the last 5 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 5 years;
• demonstrate financial capability to undertake the project;
• have adequate insurance as outlined in the funding agreement such as:
  • Public liability $20M 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 Applicant can demonstrate it is working effectively to resolve the finding;
• the efforts made by the Applicant including implementation of management systems, to ensure no further finding/s occur; and
• whether, since the finding, the 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 Project Partners and/or Project Participants involved in the delivery of the project. The Applicant must ensure that any Project Partners and/or Project Participants 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 Applicants where the due diligence risk (including that of Project Partners and Project Participants) 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 their project and the funding agreement.
• Agree to realistic evidence-based and performance-based milestone payments.
• Provide Sustainability Victoria with insurance certificates of currency.
• Sign Sustainability Victoria’s funding agreement within 30 days of approval.

4.2 During and after the project

• Deliver the project as outlined in the application and comply with the funding agreement.
• Contribute to regular project progress updates or meetings.
• Notify Sustainability Victoria immediately about any delay or change to the project.
• Provide update reports to Sustainability Victoria at agreed milestones with evidence of expenditure, progress and performance.
• Provide adequate monitoring and evaluation of the project according to the funding agreement.
• Collect and provide baseline and ongoing project outcome and evaluation data to Sustainability Victoria.
• Contribute to the project’s promotional activities (for example, provide Sustainability Victoria with support by reviewing and approving written stories or videos).
• Provide a publishable version of project outputs where agreed. These lessons learned will be shared with the Victorian community.
• 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.

There is no date for the announcement of application outcomes. We will provide Applicants with updates as much as possible and when necessary.

Applications open: Tuesday 28 February 2023

Applications close: Wednesday 12 April 2023

Information session: Wednesday 15 March 2023

Notification of outcome: July 2023

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

Project completed by: 15 December 2024.

6. How to apply

Before applying, we recommend you attend an information session.

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

1. Ensure that your organisation can apply
2. Ensure that your project meets the criteria for funding.
3. Read Sustainability Victoria’s General grant funding agreement. You must meet 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.
6. Submit your application by 11:59 pm, Wednesday 12 April. 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.

7. Assistance available

7.1 Information sessions

There was an information session online. A recording will be available after the session.

Date: Wednesday 15 March, 2023

Time: 10 am

Read the information bulletin

Answers to questions we receive at our information sessions and via phone and email are published on our Information bulletin.

We only publish answers to questions that are not already covered in these grant guidelines.

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 CE Innovation Fund.

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

8. Why the Victorian Government is providing this funding

This fund is part of the Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria policy whose targets include reducing total waste generation by 15% per capita by 2030.

Action 1.1 of the policy is to deliver the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC), which fosters business Innovation and collaboration across supply chains to reduce waste, increase reuse and generate new streams of revenue for Businesses. This fund is part of CEBIC’s programs.

CEBIC is focused on one of the policy's goals: design to last, repair and recycle. It seeks to generate less waste in Businesses through Innovation and design.

The Fund is part of the Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC). CEBIC’s objectives are to enable innovative and commercial solutions that deliver the following for Victoria:

• increased access to Circular Economy products and services for Businesses and consumers
• increased Materials Efficiency across sectors and supply chains
• increased duration of product and material lifecycles and maintenance of product and material value
• new circular business models and/or materials markets
• new local jobs and increased Circular Economy skills in the workforce
• reduced materials to landfill and other Waste Destinations
• reduced greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

One of CEBIC’s core functions is to share research, market intelligence and best-practice insights. The requirement to provide a publishable version of all written project outputs for sharing publicly is intended to enable the outcomes of the funded projects to be disseminated through CEBIC.

Collaboration has been recognised as a fundamental part of the transition to a more Circular Economy. This was a common theme during consultation undertaken during the development of CEBIC. This fund has been designed to support collaboration. Other funding programs enable individual organisations to apply for funding.

9. Definitions

Applicant

The Applicant who applies for the funding and is responsible for all details in the submission of an application and the contractual obligations under the funding agreement with Sustainability Victoria if successful for grant funding. Applicants must be legally constituted organisations and with a current ABN that has been active for a minimum of 2 years by the application closing date.

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, including Social Enterprises.

Charity
A Charity is an organisation that is Not-for-profit and has only charitable purposes that are for the public benefit. A Charity must not be an individual, political party or government entity, and must be registered on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Charity Register.

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 reused.

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.”

Circular Products and Services

Those that align with the principles of a Circular Economy:

• design out waste and pollution
• keep products and material in use at the highest value and
• regenerate natural systems.

Co-contribution

The Applicant’s required cash or In-kind Contribution to the total project income. Co-contributions must be for eligible activities.

Collaborative Partnership

A relationship established between a Lead Applicant and Project Partner/s for the purposes of meeting common project objectives and outcomes. Collaborative Partnerships need to be demonstrated by a formal agreement between the partners that outlines the governance, financial and intellectual property arrangements and roles and responsibilities of each party. A formal agreement must either be in place or be finalised before commencement of the project.

Community Group

Any organisation engaged in charitable or other community-based activity operating under Australian law and not established for the purpose of making a profit. This definition can include Not-for-profit entities pursuing a range of ‘for-profit’ commercial activities. It can also include organisations engaged in advocacy or other activities that may not be primarily charitable in nature. Unincorporated entities are ineligible to apply.

Delivery Partners

The Delivery Partner provides support to the project through their experience, skills, or resources (e.g. a consultant), but does not provide Co-contributions.

Direct Jobs

Actual new full-time positions created by your Business. 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 equivalent calculation is 100 hours divided by 40 hours which equals 2.5 FTE.

Industry Groups or Associations

An industry group or association, also known as an industry trade association, Business association, sector association or industry body, is an organisation founded and funded by Businesses that operate in a specific industry.

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.

Innovation

An Innovation is something new, different, or better, that creates value. It may be the first of its kind, inspired by others’ solutions, or copied. For this grant program, it must not have been done before in Victoria.

Lead Applicant

The listed Applicant for the purposes of a Collaborative Partnership. The Lead Applicant will be responsible for all details in the submission of an application and the contractual obligations under the funding agreement with Sustainability Victoria if successful for grant funding. The Lead Applicant is also responsible for managing the project outcomes and deliverables of the Collaborative Partnership.

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.

Not-for-profit

A Not-for-profit (NFP) organisation is an entity that does not operate for the profit or gain (either direct or indirect) of particular people. Unincorporated entities are ineligible to apply.

Other Not-for-profit Organisation

An organisation that provides services to the community and does not seek to generate profit through its activities (either direct or indirect). For the purposes of this grant program, the definition of Other Not-for-profit Organisation does not include a Charity or an Industry Group.

Project Participant/s

An organisation engaged by the Applicant to assist in the delivery of the Applicant’s project, including but not limited to major subcontractors, contractors, product suppliers and consultants.

Project Partner/s

An organisation/s in a Collaborative Partnership with a Lead Applicant that have a critical role in the project and a formal commitment to delivering the support required to ensure the project’s success.

Related Entities

Entities which are related to the 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).

Research Institution

A Research Institution can be a tertiary education institution, a government agency established for the purpose of research, a Cooperative Research Centre, an Institute or Centre for Research or a privately owned and accredited research facility. Consultancies are not considered to be Research Institutions for the purpose of this grants program.

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.

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.