Circular Economy Innovation Fund

Lead Applicants:

• 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
• Industry groups and associations (an industry group or association, also known as an industry trade association, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry) Note: For projects that involve development of a collaborative action plan, the Lead Applicant must be an Industry group or association.
• Research institutions
• Current Cooperative Research Centres
• Current Rural Research and Development Corporations
• Government or local government organisations
• Community organisations and groups that are fully incorporated.

Note: If the Applicant is a Trust, the Funding Agreement must be executed by the Trustee of the Trust for example XYZ Pty Ltd as The Trustee for the XYZ Trust. The Trust as the trading entity must meet all the eligibility requirements of the fund (eg ABN).

Lead Applicants must have:

• a direct, clear role and demonstrated contribution (in-kind and/or financial contribution) that is significant to the delivery of the project
• an active ABN of 2 years standing at the date of close of the applications.

Projects may include Collaborative Partners.

Collaborative Partners must have:

• an active ABN
• a direct, clear role and demonstrated contribution (in-kind and/or financial contribution) that is important to the delivery of the project.

A letter of support (or equivalent) must be provided by the Collaborative Partner, 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
• their role and responsibilities to the project

The Collaborative Partnership must be formalised through an agreement (MoU or equivalent) prior to the first milestone payment for successful projects.

Applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations are welcome.

Lead Applicants cannot be:

• Unincorporated associations
• Federal government organisations, excluding Rural Research and Development Councils
• Sole Traders or Individuals.

Applicants must demonstrate that project costs are directly related to the project and can include:

• new staff costs (such as salaries)
• existing staff costs (such as salaries)
• venue hire
• consultancy costs/project management costs
• marketing, advertising, promotional costs
• data collection and evaluation.

Other types of costs may be considered to be funded at the discretion of SV, if demonstrated in the grant application to be directly associated with the project and not specifically excluded.

The following project costs will not be funded:

• Capital purchases (e.g. infrastructure or equipment).
• 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.
• Operating costs (e.g. electricity, water and other utilities).
• Purchase of vehicles (e.g. front-end loaders, forklifts).
• Pre-construction (site preparation) such as site clearing, earthworks or site accessibility works.
• Leasing of equipment.
• Contingency costs.
• Fuel costs.
• Catering.
• Travel and accommodation expenses.

See the guidelines for full details of eligible and ineligible expenditure.

1. Describe what you are going to do and how the project meets the stated project requirements including: (40%)

• What is your proposed project?
• How will your project incorporate the three principles of a circular economy and be driven by design?
• What similar projects have you delivered previously? What were the successes/lessons learnt?
• How will the project directly or indirectly contribute to the following outcomes? Select a minimum of 2, as applies to your project.
  1. Creation of new Circular Products and Services.
  2. Avoidance of waste materials to any waste or Recycling destination.
  3. Increase employment through direct creation of jobs.
  4. Increase capacity to extend the useable life of products.
  5. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
• How does your project improve awareness/understanding of circular economy and enhance circular economy business innovation in Victoria?
• How many businesses or individuals will be engaged? And how will their capacity for acting on sustainability improve?

2. Demonstrate that the Lead Applicant and Collaborative Partner/s (if applicable) can deliver the project in terms of capability (skills) and capacity (resources), including: (30%)

• roles and responsibilities
• relevant experience delivering similar projects
• Lead Applicants’ experience in leading a collaborative project (if applicable).

3. Demonstrate how the project will be delivered including identifying: (30%)

• the key stages, activities and deliverables to complete it (milestones)
• project budget detailing SV funding request and Co-contribution (in-kind and/or cash) from the Lead Applicant and Collaborative Partners (if applicable) for eligible costs and expenditure items
• anticipated risks and management strategies for mitigation
• engagement plan
• monitoring and evaluation plan.

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

• a geographical spread across Victorian regions
• a mix of the three allowable project types
• inclusion of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander businesses that are at least 50% Indigenous owned and managed.

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 Project Participants (see Section 9: Program definitions).

Applicants (and their Related Entities and, if applicable, their Project Partners and Project Participants) 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 5 years
• demonstrate financial capability to undertake the project
• have adequate insurance as outlined in the funding agreement such as:
  1. Public liability $10M minimum
  2. Professional indemnity $2M minimum (if required)
• have not failed to satisfactorily progress or complete previous projects funded by Sustainability Victoria within funding program timelines and without sufficient reason
• 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
• 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 Project Participants involved in the delivery of the project. The Applicant must ensure that any Project Partners and 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.

You should read and understand the guidelines.

You need to ensure you are eligible for the funding. Applicants that do not meet all the eligibility criteria outlined above will not be considered.

Successful applicants will demonstrate:

• a proven track-record of successful delivery of the type of project they are proposing for funding
• that project costs are directly related to the project
• that the Lead Applicant and Collaborative Partner/s (if applicable) can deliver the project in terms of capability (skills) and capacity (resources)
• how the project will be delivered
• financial capability to undertake the project

Read Sustainability Victoria’s funding agreement. You must meet the terms and conditions to ensure funding.

• For grants $50,000 or less read the Short-form grant funding agreement.
• For grants more than $50,000 read the General grant funding agreement.

Read Sustainability Victoria’s Terms of participation in grant programs.

Prepare information such as the following:

• Lead Applicant organisation details
• Project description
• Project contribution to a circular economy and supporting evidence
• Project outcomes for at least two of the required outcomes and supporting evidence
• Funding rationale
• Information to substantiate the application, such as project plan, letters of support, pitch deck, promotional videos (maximum 90 secs) or images/drawings
• Team member and Collaborative Partner details
• Project delivery information including milestones, risk management, permits and approvals requirements, and equipment and infrastructure requirements
• Project budget including details of the financial commitment of the applicant and partners
• Insurance details and environmental, safety, and workplace compliance

See the application form for full details of information requirements.

Applications are submitted online via the SmartyGrants portal.

Register your interest here with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this program and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.