Circular Plastics Program

Aims

The Circular Plastics Program provides new grant funding opportunities under the $10 million Circular Materials Fund (CMF). The CMF was created to support businesses in the transition to better plastic products and increase the recycling rate of plastics in NSW. This transition is a key action of the Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 and NSW Plastics Action Plan. The objectives of the CMF are to:

• reduce the amount of virgin plastic used
• reduce the amount of hard-to-recycle plastics used
• increase the amount of recycled plastic in products
• catalyse partnerships between producers, end users and the resource recovery sector.

Available funding

A total of $5 million was available under Round 1. Funding was available through two streams:

Further information about the requirements under the different streams is available in the Guidelines for Applicants: Circular Plastics Program Round 1 (PDF 611KB).

Lessons learned from the EOI process and Round 1 will inform the design of future funding rounds. Further details are available in the Future Funding Opportunities below.

Application process

Round 1 of CPP was conducted in two stages with the Expression of Interest stage closing on 17 November 2022 and the Detailed Application stage closing on 16 March 2023. All applications were received through the SmartyGrants platform. 

Future funding opportunities

Further funding will be offered through the Circular Plastics Program following assessment and evaluation of Round 1 projects. Priorities for future funding rounds will be informed by lessons learned from Round 1. Applications for future grant funding will not be restricted to organisations that have applied for or received funding under Round 1.

The EPA invites interested parties to contact the Waste and Recycling Infrastructure team to discuss future proposals for Round 2 of the Circular Plastics program. This may include:

• discussing your project needs and how they align with the EPA’s goals and priorities
• clarifying eligibility of projects or project activities
• determining whether your project is more appropriate for Stream 1 or Stream 2 funding.

Round 1 grant recipients

Resero Pty Ltd
Stream 1 – Sole applicant – $500,000

Resero’s RETHINK project will build an injection moulding facility at their Minto site to develop, manufacture and distribute school chairs made from recycled polypropylene (PP). The project will help to avoid 380 tonnes of virgin PP and set up a take-back system to recover chairs at the end of their usable life. As part of the project’s design with the takeback scheme for end-of-life plastic chairs, collection, and processing, this will also grow the supply & logistics involved in the circular economy.

State Asphalts NSW
Stream 2 – Collaborative partnership – $750,000

Approximately 7,000 tonnes of combustible cladding in NSW will be destined for landfill after the material was banned in 2018. As this cladding is decommissioned and the aluminium is recovered, the end-markets for the remaining mineral-filled and chemical compounded plastic are very limited. State Asphalts NSW, in partnership with the University of NSW, PanelCycle and Primaplas will develop state-of-the-art technologies to characterise the remaining materials, process the recyclate and create end markets for 800 tonnes of ACP-derived polyethylene per year. State Asphalts NSW will build a plastics recycling plant to wash, granulate, extrude and pelletise the hard-to-recycle plastics at their Prestons site.