Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund: Hazardous Waste – Round 2: Information bulletin

Visual summary

This video shows one speaker presenting at the Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund – Hazardous Waste stream Information Session on 11 November 2021.

Presenters:

Emily Newton, Program Support Officer, Infrastructure Partnerships.

Ki Halstead, Team Leader, Infrastructure Investment Programs.

Lorraine Lilley, Team Leader, Infrastructure Development.

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[Opening visual of slide with text saying ‘Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund – Hazardous Waste stream’, ‘Information Session’, ‘11 December 2021’, ‘Sustainability Victoria’]

[The visuals during this webinar are of a PowerPoint presentation being played on screen, with the presenters appearing via video to the right of the screen]

Emily Newton:

Welcome to all of our attendees and thank you for joining us this afternoon to hear about round two of the Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund Hazardous Waste stream. I would like to start off first by acknowledging country. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nations upon which I'm sitting today and pay my respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. I would also like to pay my respects to the traditional custodians of the lands from which both my colleagues and all the attendees are joining us from today.

My name is Emily Newton and I'm the Program Support Officer for this funding stream and I'll be taking you through the content for today's session. My pronouns are she/her. Joining me to present is my program Lead Ki Halstead whose pronouns are he/ him. With us, my colleagues are Lorraine and Julia, who will be assisting with the Q and A portion of the session. Our manager, John and another manager, Karen, will join during the session and be available during the Q and A time as well.

I advise everyone that today's session is being recorded and will be publicly available on their website in a week or so. An email notification will be sent to all those who registered when it becomes available. I'm now going to move to the next slide to briefly talk through the agenda for today's session.

So the purpose of today's session is to give participants an overview of the recently opened Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund Hazardous Waste stream. From here on out, I will skip the full title and refer to the Fund as the R-V-I-F Hazardous Waste stream to save time.

You can see on the right hand side of your screen there is the Q and A chat box and that there's the ability to post questions throughout this presentation. So please feel free to start posting your questions when they arise, and then we can ask them out loud at the end of the presentation around 2:45 PM.

We will answer questions that have more likes first. So if you want to hear the response to a question that has already been posted, give the question a thumbs up. To ensure respond to all of your questions, if we don't get to them today, we will compile a list of questions and answers and make it available along with the recording of this presentation. I'm now going to pass over to Ki to give you an overview of the purpose of this funding stream under ‘Recycling Victoria - A new economy policy’ and I'll just move to that slide now.

Ki Halstead:

Thank you, Emily. Thank you everyone for attending today. The program has been designed to deliver on the priorities of the Recycling Victoria – a new economy policy which is a 10 year action plan to fundamentally transform our recycling sector, reduce waste, create thousands of jobs and set up Victoria for a more sustainable future.

So Recycling Victoria will drive investment in jobs and increase the waste and recycling industries’ processing capacity. The reforms will be delivered alongside investment and innovation as a comprehensive package to provide reliable services and a strong industry for the future, which you will all play a huge part in. This particular funding contributes to key commitment 8 under the policy, which is increasing the use of recycled materials. But it also has links to key commitment 10, which is to support safe and effective high risk and hazardous waste management.

So the focus of this funding is to accelerate and stimulate investment in infrastructure for the increased recovery of priority materials, including hazardous waste, and to manage those materials in line with the waste hierarchy. So through this package, the Victorian Government will stimulate investment and infrastructure and innovation to safely and better manage hazardous waste, and products that contain hazardous materials with an initial focus on increasing capacity to safely handle chemical waste and reduce stockpiles.

As you're aware by now, the circular economy policy principles are at the heart of the policy and this program forms part of that with along with a lot of other interlinking programs and policies. Specifically those last two points there relate to this program.

I'll hand back now to Emily to go through the details of the Hazardous Waste Fund.

Emily:

Thanks Ki.

So as mentioned, this is the second round of the R-V-I-F Hazardous Waste stream. The first round was opened in 2020 for solvent recovery projects only. In this second round the funding opportunities are open to projects that manage or recover low level contaminated soils or reportable priority waste - as defined by EPA Victoria. Within our guidelines, a link has been provided to the EPA's website to assist participants in determining whether the wastes for your project are eligible. A key thing to note that is that the waste defined as priority waste - separate to reportable priority waste - are not eligible for this fund.

There are three funding objectives and a project must meet at least one of these objectives. The objectives for the R-V-I-F Fund are to [number one] increase the recovery and local reprocessing of hazardous waste and to manage this material in line with the waste hierarchy. I will show you the waste hierarchy in the next slide. The second objective is to increase the use and quality of recycled materials for remanufacturing and to make new products. The third objective is to increase economic development, economic opportunities - such as jobs, economic performance and growth of precincts.

Switching to the next slide.

Separate to the R-V-I-F objectives, there are four outcomes specific to the hazardous waste stream of this program.

These are outcome a) diversion of waste from category B landfill disposal; outcome b) increased diversion of low level contaminated soils from landfill; outcome c) increased recovery of hazardous waste for reuse, recycling or energy recovery, and; outcome d) improved management of hazardous waste for reuse, recycling or energy recovery.

On our website, under the guidelines we have a bit more information included under each outcome, including eligible technologies for each outcome, which will help distinguish between, for example, outcome c) and d) which look quite similar.

I will now spend a couple of minutes talking through these outcomes in more detail, noting that I am using industry specific wording including reference to hazardous waste landfills and their categories.

These are these outcomes have been designed with consideration to the waste hierarchy shown in the bottom of the screen. As mentioned while on the previous slide, management of waste in line with the waste hierarchy is one of our R-V-I-F objectives. This waste hierarchy demonstrates that within each outcome, where the higher order management pathway can be demonstrated, this will be considered favorably compared to a lower order management pathway during the assessment process.

With respect to the diversion of hazardous waste from category B landfill, likely into category C or category D landfills, diversion from the higher categorization to a lower categorisation is viewed favourably for the same reason.

Just a note that projects to increase landfill airspace will not be considered, but infrastructure may be co-located at landfills. Additionally projects undertaken solely to comply with regulation, or a regulatory notice, or order, is not eligible under any of the outcomes, including outcome d) improved management of hazardous waste.

This is just an overview of the funding itself. So there is $9.7 million available for the R-V-I-F Hazardous Waste stream, available to Australian and international businesses and local government. Applicants are required to meet the minimum cash contribution. So industry must co contribute at least $3 for every $1 funded. Local government must co-contribute at least $2 for every $1 funded. I will note here that investment leverage will be a key consideration as part of application assessments. Higher investment from the applicant will be looked upon more favorably. There is no minimum funding requests and there is no maximum funding request. I'll go into detail later about this in our Q and A about minimum and maximum [funding requests] as well.

So who will be funded? To be eligible applicants must have: a current Australian business number; or have a joint venture partner that has an ABN; or commit to establishing Australian company prior to entering into a funding agreement with Sustainability Victoria. Applicants must be a business or local government. Applicants must have been operating in Australia or internationally for a minimum of 12 months by the application closing date, which is 15th of December 2021, almost five weeks away. Applicants must meet or exceed the minimum contribution requirements. Applicants must agree to comply with the short form grant funding agreement and terms and conditions, or the general grant funding agreement, terms or conditions. These are dependent upon whether your project funding request is $50,000 or less or $50,000 and more. These grant funding terms of conditions and terms of participation in grant programs are available on the guidelines webpage.

At the end of the application form there is a section with checkboxes for applicants to identify that they do meet these requirements, which will require a digital signature as well. I'll talk about that in further detail [later].

So applicant and project participant requirements are that they; must demonstrate financial capability to undertake the project; must not have failed to meet program timelines with other Sustainability Victoria funding programs without sufficient reason; must not have failed to address an environmental or safety breach; must not have an environmental or safety breach not yet resolved; and must not have a current industrial relations investigation or prosecution.

But what will we funded? So I'll go more now into the project aspects of what can be eligible for funding. In order to be eligible for in order to be eligible projects must be: located in Victoria; meet the eligibility criteria; one or more of the R-V-I-F objectives listed in the guidelines; meet regulatory or planning requirements; demonstrate a need for Victorian government support; be commissioned and operational by 30th of March 2024; and projects should maximize public value and private sector co-investment. Requested funding must be directly related to the project, and I’ll go through the eligible expenses in a moment. Just a note to the requirement that a project must be located in Victoria – projects can be either an expansion of an existing facility or they can be a new facility but must demonstrate approval processes - and that is [requested] within the application form.

The eligible expenses that funding can be requested include: infrastructure capital costs for the purchase installation; commissioning of equipment; pre-construction activities such as site clearing earthworks, or site accessibility works directly associated with the installation of new equipment; and modification of buildings to house the new equipment.

I am running through this quickly, but we'll spend more time going through the application form to assist you. So, what won't be funded? I'll go through this list of ineligible expenses but first: projects must not have commenced construction before signing the funding agreement. However, equipment can be ordered at an applicant's own risk prior to notification of successful funding; projects must not be undertaken solely to comply with regulation or a regulatory notice or order. This applies to all of the outcomes and as mentioned, does apply to outcome d) the improved management of hazardous waste. Projects must not focus on hazardous waste categories not listed in the guidelines, i.e., must be low level contaminated soil or defined as reportable priority wastes by the EPA.

Ineligible items for funding are: we won't fund in kind contributions; requests for assistance in managing cash flow; purchase of land; routine or cyclical maintenance works; ongoing operational costs; we won’t fund research or development or feasibility studies under this fund; cost of equipment not dedicated to the project purposes, including vehicles; and as mentioned we won’t fund facilities seeking to improve to meet EPA or other notices; and we also won't fund permit, licensing, approval costs or contingency costs. As mentioned, all this information is included on the guidelines webpage.

So now I'm going to provide an overview of the assessment criteria by which the assessment panel will score your application. You can read the detail in the guidelines on our website. The application is structured in a way that makes it clear which criteria each question falls under. For all application questions across all of the criteria, tt is really important that you support your statements with evidence. Your project maybe technologically and financially viable, have fantastic potential outcomes, and a great project team to deliver it, but without supporting evidence there is no way for SV to assess the validity of those statements and it makes it difficult for the assessors to give it a high mark. I'll provide some examples of what we're looking for as we go through the criteria. It's also important to note that we can't come back to you to ask for additional information once the assessment round is closed. We can only ask for clarification on the information that you have included where it is not clear. In approximately 10 minutes or so, I will open up a draft application form and go through the SmartyGrants process just to talk through some of the particular assessment criteria sections in more detail. But for now, here's an outline of the assessment criteria.

So firstly we have ‘What’ which is has the weighting of 30%. Under ‘What’

you must: demonstrate the meets one or more of the fund objectives which have been outlined; demonstrate that the project is viable and investment ready; demonstrate that the objectives of the proposed project align with strategic priorities of your organization.

You are the experts in this market and we want you to tell us what is going to achieve a significant outcome rather than giving you a narrow definition. This would depend on a number of factors, including the specific hazardous waste stream, the available feedstocks, and current end markets. We have some suggested considerations that you might include in your application. These are also outlined in the application form questions.

Does your project present significant value for money, or leverage additional investment. Will your project have the capacity and capability to service multiple states? Does your project address a difficult to recover, or difficult to manage waste / gap in the market. Does your project support in new end market? This is not exclusive and when we move into the application form you'll see that a lot more questions that I asked than that, but that's what is covered under the ‘What’ section.

Under the ‘Who’ section, which has a weighting of 20%, the assessment panel, will be looking for applicants that demonstrate the participants capability and capacity to successfully deliver the project. If, for example, your organisation or your project partners have experienced delivering similar infrastructure projects - we would be looking for details on what these projects were, any challenges or setbacks in delivery, and how these [setbacks] were overcome, and what were the project outcomes? More generally, we also want to know what project management monitoring and evaluation processes you have in place, as well as details of stakeholder engagement undertaken or planned.

Under the ‘How’ criteria, which is worth 30%, applicants will be assessed on how well the applicant has demonstrated viability to successfully deliver the projects, including financial viability- demonstrated through financial assessment and a cost benefit analysis spreadsheet. The kinds of supporting evidence will be looking for here is, for example, proof of site ownership or lease agreement; if you have a secured site council planning approval or relevant EPA licenses or permit; and a detailed risk management plan and monitoring and evaluation framework to measure the outcomes of your project throughout the application form. There's many different prompts to provide attachments for particular sections.

Finally under ‘Why’, which is worth 20%, applicants will be assessed on: why the project is needed; why financial assistance is needed; what benefits the project will provide; and how it aligns to the priorities of the government. Which I outlined before.

Again, any statements should be supported by evidence where possible in terms of the need for government and financial assistance. We recognize there is a conflict here in terms of projects needing to be viable, and also demonstrating the need for financial assistance.

The key here is to explain potential outcomes with and without government support. For example, the impacts on capacity or delivery timing if financial assistance is provided. In addition to the scoring done to rank the projects based on the assessment criteria- [that] we've just gone through - the assessment panel might overlay diversity considerations such as geographical spread or spread across the industry.

I'm going to talk through some due diligence here. So an important parts of the assessment process is where SV is required to complete due diligence on applications - similar to if you're applying for a bank loan or seeking private sector investment for your project. During these checks SV looks for any compliance issues; the financial viability of the applicant; adequate insurance; any conflicts of interest; and delivery history with SV.

The financial viability check requires applicants to provide financial information to a contracted third party to undertake a financial risk assessment. This will be required if your project has been successful. This is required regardless of the size or operating history of your business, or your history with SV. This information is commercial in confidence and will not be shared with any other parties.

For international applicants, Invest Victoria will be assisting SV to conduct due diligence checks. Applicants will need to engage with, and provide information to, their local Victorian government trade and investment offices to assist with this process. Noting that this is only for international applicants. The results of these checks then forms part of every assessment of the project.

Now I'll just go through the application process and then I'll actually step through the application form itself.

Firstly, ensure you are eligible to apply and your project meets the eligibility and assessment criteria by thoroughly reading the guidelines.

Secondly, read and understand the terms and conditions, terms of participation and the funding agreement that would be relevant to you, whether it be $50,000 or less or $50,000 or more of your funding request(s).

Third, plan, research and gather information for your application as early as possible. We ask that you start the bulk of your application no later than three weeks before the closing date. This means you can leave and go back to it at any time, but I do recommend saving as frequently as possible just in case you get logged out or something goes wrong.

Fourth, register or login to Smarty grants to start your application. This is a pretty simple process, you just need to use your email and create a password.

Fifth, review and complete the eligibility check as soon as possible to ensure that your project is investment ready and [that] you have time to get support. You can print a draft of your application with just your eligibility check complete and contact grants enquiries if you would like to access support from our investment facilitation team. There's more information on the guidelines webpage about the investment facilitation service.

Sixth, complete all questions and upload supporting documents to your application.

Once you've completed your application and you go to submit, please ensure that you have submitted by 11:59 PM of 15 December 2021. I strongly recommend that you don't wait last minute. I also understand, as I am a last minute submitter, but just in case there's any technological issues we can't accept applicant applications that are submitted after that time.

And finally, on submission you will receive an electronic reply from SmartyGrants. Late applications will not be accepted except under exceptional circumstances. That's largely when you've notified that those exceptional circumstances in advance. If your computer or Internet connection is prone to meltdowns, I suggest putting this date in your calendar for the day before. If you need support with any of these steps, you can contact grants enquiries. I'll put the details in the Q and A section shortly, but it is also available on other slide. Unfortunately they will not be available at the time of submission at 11:59, noting that they will also be logged off from close of business. But those details will be provided shortly, and are provided on the guidelines webpage.

So I'm going just jump here and we're going to go through another screen.

[Displaying SmartyGrants online application form, and moving mouse on screen to point at sections of the application form while speaking]

So now we're going to go through the application form, but I'm going to focus on some key questions marked as mandatory within the form. This will be helpful for people who have not used this SmartyGrants platform before. So when you click on the guidelines webpage and you've clicked start your application, you'll find you come to this page you want to click start the hazardous waste stream round- so just click that. Now you won't have [the option] to continue a submission, and you'll have to start a new submission so this is where you can click and begin that. But you can also download a preview of the form in PDF - which you can print - or you can preview the [web] form and that way you can skip through and see some of those criteria.

I'm going to click ‘continue your submission’ which I've actually already started – here - so you'll open up to Page 1. Before I run through some parts of the form, I wanted to highlight again that when you are editing the application form to save progress frequently to manage the risk in case you're logged out of the system for any reason. I know this has happened to me, so I just want to make sure that your hard work is doesn't go to waste.

So after clicking to start your submission, you must read the eligibility requirements further here. And to proceed – so if you click no, you actually won't be able to access these areas - it'll block you. So once you've ensured that you're eligible, click yes, click next page. Now you'll be free to preview the section you like.

I'm going to jump to the ‘What’ section here just because I think there's certain areas of the form that are required to talk through. So as mentioned, you must demonstrate your project meets one of the three objectives of this Fund. This is here under objectives. So what you need to do is include text at least in one of these boxes where it's relevant. If you are not producing recycled materials or re-manufacturing, you do not need to put text in this box. But please ensure that you have texts in one of these [boxes] to demonstrate that you've met an objective.

Moving further down. Here's where you outline information about your technology. I just wanted to talk through the particular questions that you'll see in this form. Here's where we want information explained about the technology that's proposed, and there will also be attachment fields where you can upload communications you've had with the technology company or something like that. So with this table I've just used any draft code… but you must put your code so we can just double check what it is, and what your current treatment capacity is [tonnes]. But if you are a new facility, it's fine to put zero [tonnes] and then what your proposed increasing treatment is. I just wanted to show what this table was so you could see what this is doing. We have this built into the form as a sort of sense check counting field so you can see that if for any reason. Then you can just double check through those tables.

What I did want to go through in this section in particular is… all applicants will need to complete information on feedstock - very important for us to know information about feedstock. Once you've come down past feedstock, end disposal management pathway… This is where we just want to check again whether the project is a higher order recovery project - which will be recycling or reusing, or waste to energy type projects - or whether it will be focusing on safer management. Now projects actually could be achieving both of them, and there is a text field to outline this. But when you come to this section you'll find that your questions to respond to actually change depending on what your project is.

So if your project technology results in hazardous waste being declassified and diverted to a lower hazardous waste category landfill, and meets outcome a) diverting waste from category B landfill. Then please select hazardous waste landfill and then you'll just get this one table. Where you'll fill out that you might be diverting to category C, how much are you currently doing - which again can be zero [tonnes] or what it actually is [tonnes], and the proposed increase in diversion.

If your project is doing some recovery or reuse or recycling then please check this button and you'll actually get asked different questions. You'll be asked about outputs and end markets - which will each have text questions for both. And combined at the bottom we have a similar type table that combines both outputs and end market questions. Please include the waste code again for us there. We have a moderate list of what your waste could be here. If your waste is actually not covered in this list, then just please click ‘other’ and list what it is. For me, I found that this section was good to go through because it highlights how you would be answering tables in the application form and how you'll be uploading attachments and answering text based questions.

What I'm going to jump to next, in the interests of time, so we can get some questions is to ther ‘How’ section where we've got some of the budget tables and cost benefit analysis questions. And as always, please contact grants enquiries if you have any questions about the application form as I understand I'm skipping through some sections here. So I wanted to spend some time talking through the budget table requirements under ‘How’ assist with questions you might have when filling out this form. Although only some sections here are marked as mandatory, in this table, we do encourage you to provide all the information you have where possible. The non-mandatory marked questions are not so much optional, but to ensure that if you don't have the figures to include under, for example subcontractors or construction labour, then you don't have to provide it - and you're not blocked from submitting your application later.

Under the amount requested from government, please include the amount requested ensuring that your co-contribution of either $1:$2 for local government or $1:$3 for businesses is being met. So I'll talk through in a bit more. To note: In-kind contributions are not an eligible contribution under this Fund but are included here - as it's helpful to breakdown what the total project cost is - accounting for all the ineligible expenses for the fund. This matters to understand the total investment of your project. Put simply, eligible and ineligible expenses are separated in this table, so please fill out column one and column two at the minimum and column three [information] is greatly appreciated and supplementary. But if you don't have details [for this section], it's OK if you can't include it.

This is just my draft application, not actually applying to any project, and you'll see that this request is for $500,000 which means that if I'm a business, the cash contribution must be $1.5 million. The point of the eligible expenses table is that this amount here must match up to the combination of these – including equity and debt. There's questions about project partner contribution. All these budget tables balance into this budget summary and you will find that you'll come here to check your numbers. So most important it that here the validation check total combined contribution must match total expenditure - this number must be zero. If the number is not zero, then please review your budget table. It might be that you need to revise your contribution requests which would be, say, maybe 400,000, but your cash contribution, if there’s any ineligible costs, your cash contribution can be [either] meet the 1:3 or 1:2 contribution requirements or it can exceed it. It doesn't have to be just the multiplication of that number.

In the interest of time I just wanted to quickly highlight this cost benefit analysis table as well. So here you'll have a cost benefit analysis template spreadsheet to download. So please download that, fill it out. There's lots of instructions within the form and on here, but please include information to your best ability, including 15 year predictions for your business and the project. Then upload your completed cost benefit analysis template to here and this is used during your assessment process.

Ki, can you please confirm that you can see the Powerpoint? Perfect. So returning back to the Powerpoint - we had just a few recommendations for improving your chance of success. So as mentioned a few times during the information session, please read the guidelines thoroughly and you will have to check off on them during the application form. Do start your application early. Do provide evidence as much as you can. Do seek support through the below agencies to ensure your project is investment ready: including the Victorian Government Business Offices, Sustainability Victoria Investment Facilitation Service, Sustainability Victoria's Grants Enquiries, and international applicants must notify their nearest Victorian Government Trade and Investment Office if they are to apply for this fund.

Lastly, to help you check that your project is ready we provide the following prompts to think through whether your project is investment ready. So, has your project plan or business case been internally approved? Do you have secured feedstock? Do you have a site identified or secured? Have you commenced seeking planning and environmental permits where required? Have you identified the required technology for your project, and has there been preliminary conversations with the technology supplier? I won't read them all but the last one is- Do you have the required cash co-contributions secured for this project. If the answer to any of these questions is no, it doesn't necessarily mean your project won't be funded. It just means that you need to consider how you can progress on these project elements and how you will address them in the application form, including as part of the required risk management plan included under the ‘How’ section. For example, if you do not yet have secured feedstock, you should provide detail on the availability of the required feedstock in the market, how you plan to secure feedstock, any potential suppliers you may have approached, and any key dependencies in securing feedstock. The only exception to the list and where an explanation will not pass through is whether there are any outstanding environmental workplace safety or industrial relations issues. If the answer to having these issues is yes, you will need to detail in your application how you are engaging with the relevant regulatory body and any mitigation actions you're taking to resolve the issue or issues.

Quickly just to run through the timeline, so the applications are now open, opened on the 3rd of November, and applications will close at 11:59 PM on Wednesday 15th of December. I strongly recommend submitting earlier, as mentioned, just in case of any technological difficulties. The information session is on today 11th of November and we aim to notify all applicants by the end of March 2022, but this is also dependent on external factors that we do not always have control over. Following this notification of successful applicants, we aim to establish funding agreements around three months after notification by the end of June 2022. We acknowledge that this is a relatively challenging timeframe over Christmas, to complete an in-depth application. Unfortunately we didn't have any flexibility on that, which is why you recommend starting as soon as possible just to make sure you can get in before Christmas holidays and enjoy your holidays.

Notification of outcomes is subject to the approval process. Rest assured SV will advise you on the outcome of your application as soon as we can. Once projects are approved, the timing for the remaining stages is really down to the successful applicants. We aim to establish the funding agreement and let you get cracking on your project as soon as possible after the successful projects are notified and all successful projects must be completed by 30th March 2024. Apologies for the typo on the screen [29 March 2024] -it's because our system required a weekday - but the projects must be completed by 30th of March 2024.

So I will shortly be opening up to hearing what the questions you've been asking in the chat are, but I'll talk through some commonly asked questions that we do get on majority of our SV funding programs.

Question one: Can I submit more than one application?

Yes. As long as this is for a completely separate project, a single business can submit more than one application if they have multiple projects that meet the eligibility criteria and an individual project can demonstrate how it addresses the assessment criteria and objectives of the program. For example, if there are two projects that produce different outputs each project must be able to demonstrate an increase in capability or capacity as a standalone project.

Question two: I have a smaller scale project. Should I still apply?

Yes, the fund seeks to maximize public value and return on investment in the industry. Co-contributions and the lack of funding caps are not intended to discourage applicants - in respect to smaller scale projects that demonstrate public value. SV encourages projects of all sizes and there is there is no minimum funding request for this fund.

Question three: Are waste to energy projects eligible?

Waste to energy projects are eligible for this funding under outcome a), c) and d) of funding

where applicable to the safe management of all treatment of reportable priority waste.

And lastly, can SV review a draft of my grant application?

No, the grant program is a competive process so the Grants team are unable to review a draft or provide feedback on your application itself. However, along with other services, such as Victorian government Businesses Offices, SV’s Investment Facilitation is a separate function from the grants delivery team and can provide support in reviewing your project concept and business case to make sure that your project is investment ready.

And with that, I can now open to receive questions.

Lorraine, my colleague was going to read out some [questions].

Lorraine Lilley:

There's just one quick one Emily, that we're talking about now. We have been asked are tyres eligible? I know we had [tyres] through the material stream. Do you want to answer that?

So tyres are unfortunately not eligible for this fund, and that's just because - while tyres are a transportable reportable priority waste - this fund does require that the reportable priority waste must be both transactional and [transportable].

Lorraine:

The other questions - I think we've answered most of them. Steve had a question about brominated plastics from e-waste - from recycled e-waste and whether that was classified as hazardous waste. We're just going to take that on notice to confirm those codes.

Another question was just what is hazardous waste? – and that that we really define it as reportable priority wastes in this case.

Emily:

And I can add a bit more to that. Just a brief note, noting other authorities and other jurisdictions. But if you're a business that operates in another state, while some waste might be considered hazardous waste within your EPA regulations, for us it is what is defined as reportable priority waste. So If in your jurisdiction something is listed but in ours it's called priority waste. Then unfortunately it is not eligible for this fund.

Lorraine:

We also had a question about a breach. You talked about breaches not being resolved when people make the applications. We've put in the answers there that we'll assess the application and we'll see issues that have been tried to resolve, [and] that the applicants made attempts to resolve those issues. So it's part of the due diligence assessment.

Also we've had a question about waste that can't be actually recycled, and whether there's provision in the grants to work on those as well. We've talked about that we're looking for and the [eligibility of] improved management of waste through these grants as well. So that if there is no higher order option, it will be considered, so it's worth applying.

Someone has asked about the funding. Why is the funding 3:1 when some grants programs have been 1:1. In round one we had 3:1.

Emily:

Ki, are you happy to answer that inquiry?

Ki:

I guess there are other programs under Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund that have been a different funding ratio, and that's because we had co-funding from the Commonwealth government. Whereas generally our standard funding for these large-scale infrastructure programs - I can't speak for all of the grant programs at SV- but are 1:3.

Emily:

Perfect. If you have any more questions please type them now. Otherwise, while we are waiting, if you have any questions now, or you don't wish to ask, or they come up later, you can always contact SV’s grant enquiries team on 1300 363 744 or the Grants Enquiries email.

So to round off, I believe I've mentioned it, but so this session has been recorded and we will upload the session onto the webpages so that you can re-watch it and there will be a transcript available.

And lastly, thank you for joining the information session today and listening in and I'm looking forward to seeing the applications that come through. Thank you to my colleagues for helping out with presenting or questions and answers and behind the scenes functions.

Ki:

There's just one quick question there. Is there a list of reportable priority wastes?

Emily:

Yes, so I've I might have skipped over this. If so, apologies. So on the guidelines, we have a link to EPA's website. What we can do after this session is we will provide some Q and A responses and I'll provide a link to more of the list. Wo we provided a link to the EPA website, but once you get to the EPA website, there can be a different path you go on, so we'll provide a link to the list itself.

Lorraine:

Emily, we've also had a quick follow up question from Anton just asking about that question about higher order option. So we have answered it. It's about the management of waste, so if there is no higher order option, the application should be submitted and we will consider it.

Emily:

Yeah, so I guess the key thing there is - look at outcome d) improved safe management of hazardous waste. So if you're going to add system resilience to [for example] reduce stockpiles, it would be eligible under outcome d.

Excellent, all right. Well, we might close out the session. Thank you again to everyone and send through questions to grants enquiries if anything was missed, but I appreciate your time today.