The Business Food Waste Partnerships grants program will provide $4 million over four years to educate and upskill businesses and institutions to avoid, reduce and source separate food waste.

The objective of the Business Food Waste Partnerships Grants program is to facilitate peak bodies, sector leaders, councils and relevant organisations of the Commerical & Industrial (C&I) sector to work in collaboration with the EPA to reduce and source separate their food waste and work towards achieving the Waste and Sustainable Materials 2041 targets: halving the amount of organic waste sent to landfill and net zero emissions from organics to landfill by 2030. 

The Food Waste Partnership Grants is to provide funding to support the NSW C&I sector to:

• raise awareness and empower food businesses with knowledge and skills in food waste reduction and source separation
• food waste transition to food organics source separation
• implement food waste best practices

Funding

The program will invest $4 million over four years from 2023/24 to 2026/27 to increase NSW business sectors’ food waste awareness and capacity to implement food waste recycling best practices and avoidance actions. Up to $200,000 ex GST is available for two or three-year duration projects.

Applications will be received in two intakes annually and must be submitted using the SmartyGrants platform. This timing is to be repeated each year for four years, unless the funding is exhausted, to allow peak bodies, sector leaders and relevant organisations to plan ahead.

Eligible applicants

Applications are open to industry peak bodies, sector leaders, councils and relevant organisations  and eligible applicants must:

1. be an organisation with an Australian Business Number (ABN)
2. be an organisation with an active relationship with the target audience in NSW
3. demonstrate experience in project delivery with the target audience
4. demonstrate the project is a new activity that can be incorporated into, or build on, existing activities, programs or other initiatives
5. demonstrate shared values or organisational goals aligned with the NSW organics waste and emissions targets
6. deliver education and communication that aligns with the NSW EPA position statement on what can be disposed of in Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) or Food Organics (FO) bins
7. be submitted using SmartyGrants by 1pm of the closing date/time.

Applications that do not satisfy these conditions will be deemed ineligible and will not be funded.

Waste assessment and advice may be included as a project activity, however the funding priorities are for projects that focus on awareness, education and capacity building. This aims to avoid duplication with other business support programs, such as Bin Trim.

Projects or activities that require funding to build a new, or expand an existing, channel or platform, like apps or websites, are not eligible for funding.

For a PDF of the guidelines email organics.grants@epa.nsw.gov.au

• Email: organics.grants@epa.nsw.gov.au