Waste Minimisation Fund – Frequently Asked Questions

The Waste Minimisation Fund is funded through the waste disposal levy that was introduced under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.  Fifty per cent of the money collected from the levy will be distributed to territorial authorities (city and district councils) on a population basis, to spend in accordance with their Waste Management and Minimisation Plans (WMMPs). The remainder (minus administration costs) will be used for the Waste Minimisation Fund. The administration costs cover not only the administration of the WMF, but also activities required under the Waste Act including:

• collecting the levy – (OWLS, invoicing, debt collection)
• payment and monitoring of territorial authorities share (finance & reporting system)
• review of levy effectiveness (including the WMF)
• auditing, offences and enforcement.

The Waste Advisory Board is appointed to provide independent advice to the Environment Minister on issues relating to waste minimisation under the Waste Minimisation Act.

As specified by section 90 of the Act, the purpose of the Waste Advisory Board is to provide the Minister for the Environment with advice about:

• declaring priority products
• making guidelines for product stewardship schemes
• accrediting product stewardship schemes
• regulations that prohibit the sale of priority products
• regulations on products, materials and waste
• specifying criteria for the funding of waste minimisation projects
• reviewing the effectiveness of the waste disposal levy
• regulations on the imposition of, and rate of, the waste disposal levy
• regulations on records, information and reports.

Funding can be used for operating and capital expenditure required when undertaking a waste minimisation project. The WMF will pay for costs relating to the following:

• personnel
• administration
• consultants and contractors
• purchase of capital assets and other capital costs
• venue and equipment
• promotion and dissemination of information
• financial, legal and information technology (IT) expenses
• travel and accommodation
• other miscellaneous costs.

For more detailed information and examples refer to the 'Guide for applicants’.

The following areas are not covered by funding:

A ‘large project’ means any application requesting $200,000 or more for the entire project.  Additional supporting documentation that is required for such projects is as follows:

• feasibility study
• background information about the project and the organisation
• reference(s) from a previous successfully completed publicly funded project(s) and/or customers
• business plan
• capability statement of the project
• project manager’s CV.

More detailed guidance about the required supporting documentation can be found within the Guide for applicants.

The application period is for two months between 1 July 2011 and 12 September 2011.

Yes funding may be available for up to three years but only to those applicants that can clearly demonstrate the successful completion of another project using public funding.  If your organisation does not have this track record, you may apply for one year only, unless there is sufficient support from an umbrella organisation (e.g letter of support on letterhead).

If multi-year funding is successful, then funding for subsequent years will be conditional upon your project meeting the deliverables and other agreed requirements for the previous year(s). You will also need to submit an updated project plan and budget on an annual basis, showing the new milestones, tasks and deliverables for the upcoming funding year.

Yes.  You may purchase capital assets and other capital costs with funding from the WMF.  This includes expenditure that is essential for the project, including the cost of bringing the new asset to working order, or any associated labour and lease expenses. 

When purchasing capital assets you must follow procurement good practice.

Should your application be successful, the Ministry will register capital assets funded from the WMF on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) which is the New Zealand Government’s electronic register detailing the security interests over personal property.  For more information about the register see www.ppsr.govt.nz. Registration will be for a period of five years from the first payment of the grant used for capital costs.  The capital assets that you intend to purchase using funds from the WMF grant will be listed in your funding deed and only those that are listed are allowed to be purchased. 

Only projects that promote or achieve waste minimisation are eligible for funding.  This includes educational projects that promote waste minimisation activity.  Projects must result in new waste minimisation activity, either by implementing new initiatives, or a significant expansion in the scope or coverage of existing activities.

The WMF has set eligibility criteria that a project must meet before an application may be submitted to request funding. 

Note that meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee that your project will be funded. 

If your project does not meet the eligibility criteria there may be other government funding options available to you.

If a project commences before execution of your deed it may still be eligible however you cannot apply for costs incurred prior to the execution of your Deed.  Any costs incurred prior to the execution of your Deed are your responsibility.   

Please do not submit an application to the WMF if your project is not ready to begin in March 2012. 

Once you have completed your application form, send it by email to WMFapplication@mfe.govt.nz with ‘WMF application’ in the subject line.

The Ministry’s server does not receive emails (with attachments) that exceed 10 megabytes in size, so two or more emails may need to be sent. 

Alternatively, you may post your application to:

The Funds Management Team
Ministry for the Environment
PO Box 10362
Wellington 6143

Or you may deliver it to:

The Funds Management Team
Ministry for the Environment
Environment House
23 Kate Sheppard Place (off Molesworth Street)
Wellington

Please ensure that if you do post or deliver your application it arrives at the Ministry by 5pm Monday 12 September 2011.

Please do not send attachments or supporting material that the Ministry has not requested.

Please do not bind your application if you are submitting in hard copy format.

Applications must be received by the Ministry by 5pm Monday 12 September 2011.  An application will not be considered if:

• it is received after the closing time on the closing date
• it does not meet the eligibility criteria
• the designated application form is not used
• the application form is not signed
• the required supporting documentation has not been supplied within the set timeframe.

If your application form is received by the Ministry at least two weeks prior to the application closing date of 5pm Monday 12 September 2011 and it is incomplete the Ministry will approach the primary contact person to request the missing information.  You will then have two working days to provide the information.  If the primary or back-up contact people are not available, or cannot source the necessary information within that time, the application will be assessed as incomplete and may be deemed ineligible.

If your application reaches us within two weeks of the closing date and is incomplete you will not have an opportunity to amend your application after the closing date. 

The WMF will not cover the entire cost of a project. To be eligible you must be able to demonstrate part funding from other sources. Financial contributions from other sources help to share the financial risk associated with the project. This also demonstrates buy-in and support for a particular project.

There is no minimum amount of other funding required, but we suggest at least 20%. The selection panel will look for the best net benefit.
Please note that part funding must be cash contributions only. 

Yes. Fund Analysts are able to help you with any queries or issues you have completing the application process. However we are not able to assist you to write your application, or provide any information in addition to what is publicly available to all applicants.

Fund Analysts are not part of the decision making process and cannot advise applicants if their application is likely to be funded or not.

In the first instance refer to the Guide for applicants.

Yes, we encourage industry, local government, and community groups to work together.

Collaboration helps to demonstrate buy-in and support for a particular project. We have no guidelines on the number or type of organisations to partner with – this will vary from project to project. Consider any organisations that may be relevant to your project e.g. local councils, universities or research institutes, NGOs and community groups, or other industry players.  You may also like to consider others in your neighbouring region who could be thinking about a similar project to you.

If funding was not approved for your project beyond the feasibility study then yes you will need to apply again for this phase.

The assessment panel will take your feasibility study into account when assessing your subsequent application. However, as with all applications, funding is not guaranteed.

Yes. There is no limit to the number of applications an individual or organisation can make to any round of the fund.  All applications must meet the eligibility criteria for the fund and each should be completed on a separate application form.

A selection panel made up of external members and a non-voting chair will review applications against the Fund assessment criteria and provide their recommendations to the Ministry for the Environment. The Minister for the Environment makes the final decision on what projects are funded.
For further information about the decision making process please refer to the WMF Guide for applicants.

The selection panel will be appointed by the Ministry for the Environment based upon the ideal mix of skills across the following categories:

• science and technology
• governance
• business investment experience
• financial / due diligence
• local government experience
• other funding experience
• Public Finance Act
• strategic / outcome focus

There is no application or nomination process to become a selection panel member. Nor is there a requirement for a selection panel in legislation. This was initiated through a review of best management practices by the Ministry.

Fund Analysts are not part of the decision making process and cannot advise applicants if their application is likely to be funded or not.

Applications to the WMF close at 5pm Monday 12 September 2011.. In June, applicants will be advised whether the Minister would like them to proceed to Stage II of the application process – developing a deed and project plan. This amount of time is required to process all applications and ensure that all relevant matters have been considered before reaching a decision.

If your application is successful to proceed to Stage II you will be contacted by a Fund Analyst in December 2011 who will discuss with you the next steps in the process. 

If your application is unsuccessful you will be notified by letter in December 2011. If you would like feedback on an unsuccessful application you can request this from a member of the Funds Management Team.

No. You will have to reapply in the next funding round if you wish your application to be considered.  We can only allocate funding that is available. However, if there are not enough high quality applications, the entire fund does not have to be allocated.

Yes.  The panel may decide to grant less funding than what you requested.  This means that the scope and scale of the project may need to be reviewed and amended. Your Fund Analyst can assist you through this process. 

Yes.  The panel may decide to grant funding subject to a number of conditions being met.  Information about any conditions will be provided to you at the beginning of Stage II.  You may decide not to accept these condition(s) and should this be the case your project will be unlikely to progress any further.

If you are invited to proceed to Stage II, you will be allocated a Fund Analyst to support you as you begin to develop your project plan.

Your support person will send you a draft project plan template and guide which you will need to review and complete.  They will also advise you on the time frames in which you need to develop and submit your project plan. 

Note that an invitation to Stage II is not approval for funding.  Only after you have successfully completed Stage II project planning will you receive funding approval.

Following approval you will need to sign a deed agreement. Funding for a project is not confirmed until all parties have signed the deed agreement.