Scrap Together Grants are available to NSW councils with food and garden organics collections (FOGO) to deliver the Scrap Together education materials to their households.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: A maximum of $15,000 is available for each council participating in the project.
- Application opened: 21 September 2023
- Application closed: 31 October 2023, 4:00 pm
Program objective
The objectives of the Scrap Together grant program are to help households use the service well, including:
- increasing awareness that all food waste can be placed into the FOGO bin
- increasing the likelihood of people placing their food waste in the FOGO bin rather than the red lid bin.
This program is administered by Environment Protection Authority.
This program is funded by Department of Planning and Environment.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Applicants must:
- be a NSW Council which has not received Go FOGO funding. Eligible councils may wish to apply as a group and have a regional project co-ordinated (and grant submitted and administered) by a regional waste group, joint or regional organisation of councils. Councils are not eligible to apply for individual funding as well as part of a joint project.
- have an existing FOGO service that has been in place for at least 12 months before the application close. For group projects all participating councils must meet this requirement.
- process the collected FOGO at a suitably licenced facility.
- use the existing Scrap Together education material. Examples of the existing Scrap Together resources are on the EPA website.
- make sure education/communications are delivered for a minimum of four months. This could be a continuous four months or broken into waves. Noting that planning and reporting activities are as well as the delivery period.
- include in their project as a minimum:
- a pre and post project survey. The EPA will develop the surveys and provide a link for councils to distribute
- content delivered via council owned channels e.g., council’s website, social media, truck delivery, council newsletters, information in the rates notice
- content delivered via non council channels e.g., articles or ads in local newspapers, radio, community newsletters
- if developing new material (including updating existing materials to align with the position statement):
- use the key messages and Scrap Together design in the development of any new education material
- be approved by the EPA before finalisation or use
- be able to be used by other councils once it’s been tested.
- submit the grant application using the EPA’s SmartyGrants Platform by the closing date (31 October 2023).
Applications that do not satisfy all the above conditions will be deemed ineligible and will not be assessed.
Councils that have received funding via another EPA grant program (e.g., Organics Collection Households) are eligible to apply, except for Go FOGO grants. Where the other grant is still active, applicants must show how the Scrap Together funding complements and does not duplicate activities being delivered by the other grant(s).
Types of projects funded under this grant
As well as eligibility requirements, successful applicants will be required to sign and return a letter of agreement confirming commitment to comply with conditions of the funding, including:
- seek EPA approval of new education material to make sure it aligns with Scrap Together key messages and style.
- tell the EPA Organics Unit of any changes in project expenditure and activities
- submit a final report on outcomes and activities done and expenditure
- hold appropriate insurance and public liability coverage
- attend bi-monthly joint grantee meetings
- distribute pre- and post-program surveys reaching the required number of responses
- acknowledge the support of the NSW Government on publications relating to the project, in accordance with the letter of agreement
- invite a NSW Government representative to any launch or public event associated with this funding
Failure to meet all of the grant conditions may result in the project being terminated.
Projects can focus on a particular target audience or cover the entire local government area.
Outcomes for projects funded under this grant
As well as eligibility requirements, successful applicants will be required to sign and return a letter of agreement confirming commitment to comply with conditions of the funding, including:
- seek EPA approval of new education material to make sure it aligns with Scrap Together key messages and style.
- tell the EPA Organics Unit of any changes in project expenditure and activities
- submit a final report on outcomes and activities done and expenditure
- hold appropriate insurance and public liability coverage
- attend bi-monthly joint grantee meetings
- distribute pre- and post-program surveys reaching the required number of responses
- acknowledge the support of the NSW Government on publications relating to the project, in accordance with the letter of agreement
- invite a NSW Government representative to any launch or public event associated with this funding
Failure to meet all of the grant conditions may result in the project being terminated.
Projects can focus on a particular target audience or cover the entire local government area.
What costs you can apply for
The total funding pool for this round is $400,000.
A maximum of $15,000 is available for each council participating in the project.
Generally, applicants can determine how the budget will be allocated to different activities, provided the items are in line with the what will be funded and what will not be funded section of these guidelines.
The total approved funding amount will be paid when the letter of agreement is signed by both parties.
What will be funded?
Funding is available to deliver a range of communication and education activities. Examples of activities eligible for funding include, but are not limited to:
- graphic design costs to tailor provided resources to the council and local community
- media placement/buy
- social media boosting
- printing
- new content creation
- staff time to deliver the project where the hours worked are extra and not part of the project officer’s usual duties.
Who can’t apply
Go FOGO grantees are not eligible to apply as funding for FOGO related education has been incorporated into the Go FOGO grant. Go FOGO grantees can access the Scrap Together resources by contacting the EPA’s Organics Unit (organics.grants@epa.nsw.gov.au).
What costs you can't apply for
Grant funding will not be provided for:
- activities that have already been done before the letter of agreement has been signed
- activities or parts of the project that are or have been funded via another EPA funding program
- projects and activities that are not directly related to increasing the proportion of food waste put into the FOGO bin rather than the red lid bin
- development of resources that do not use the Scrap Together creative and FOGO Deep Dive research findings
- infrastructure projects such as the buying of major capital items, defined as furniture, vehicles, building improvements and equipment, computer hardware and media equipment
- activities that target non-residential collections (i.e., business organics)
- at home organics recycling such as composting or worm farming
- projects that only focus on updating of existing FOGO communications to align with the position statement
- projects that only focus on research
- projects that only focus on food waste avoidance.
If you are unsure if an item or activity is eligible for funding, please contact the EPA’s Organics Unit, organics.grants@epa.nsw.gov.au or phone 02 9995 6890.
What co-contributions are required
Co-contribution is encouraged but not required for this grant. Applicants are required in their grant application and final report to detail any cash and in-kind contributions, such as:
- using existing resources owned by the applicant
- volunteer time
- leveraging communication channels, such as mailbox drops, mayoral columns and rates notices.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
Visit the EPA website or contact the EPA Organics Unit (organics.grants@epa.nsw.gov.au) for a copy of the guidelines.
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
Address the assessment criteria
The text in bold indicates the sections in the application form for each criterion. The dot points provide extra information on the types of considerations relevant to each criterion.
Criteria
The description of context, partners and collaborators - shows detailed planning has been done.
- use of EPA research data and local data in the design of the grant project
- specialised communications staff are involved in planning and delivering activities
- the project will include local identities and/or tailoring of collateral to suit local needs
- multiple people or groups are involved in planning and delivering activities
- local skills are utilised and or enhanced so that the design of future FOGO education projects is easier
The planned activities and timeline are value for money and likely to result in good reach and behaviour change in key audiences.
- multiple communication channels and methods planned
- delivery of activities does not rely on one person
- some activities are targeted specifically at residents new to the area
- a detailed budget has been provided
- there are cash and in-kind contribution by applicant(s)
Monitoring and evaluation are clearly integrated into the program design.
- monitoring methods are listed for all activities
- targets are listed for all activities
- monitoring and evaluation don’t just rely on the EPA developed surveys
Start the application
Applications are to be submitted via our SmartyGrants platform. Round 2 applications close at 4pm on 31 October 2023.
Note: If you are a new applicant to SmartyGrants, you will need to register and create a password. If you are already registered, you can log in with your existing username and password.
Apply now
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: EPA CEO
Applications will undergo an eligibility check before being reviewed by an independent technical review committee using the criteria set out below. The technical review committee will recommend projects to the EPA CEO for funding.