Manawatū District Council is looking to support residents with their own waste minimisation ideas through grants from their new ‘Waste Not Want Not’ fund. The $29,000 pot of money is available to fund a range of ideas and initiatives that divert waste from landfill.

“Our Waste Not Want Not fund can help individuals, community groups and businesses with their waste minimisation initiatives”, explains Brittney Evans, MDC Infrastructure Project Planner. “We’ve been able to allocate money from the Waste Levy funding Council receives into this fund, and we’re excited to see what ideas our communities can come up with.”

The fund is a share of national waste levy funds from the Ministry for the Enviroment (so not a direct cost to ratepayers) and is just one part of a larger effort to get the district’s waste under control. The Council released their Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2022-2028 earlier this year and it covers a range of projects in the works to reduce our reliance on landfill over the next six years.

“As a district, we sent over 6000 tonnes of rubbish to landfill in 2020 and we know that a large proportion of that could have been reused or recycled. This fund will help us increase the scale, range and number of waste minimisation activities in Manawatū,” adds Brittney.

The Council is hoping to receive applications for projects, initiatives or programmes which demonstrate promotion or achievement of waste minimisation by promoting a circular economy for waste, or by supporting reuse, recycle and recover principles.

“There are three categories in the fund; the community category, aimed at groups such as schools and clubs.  The innovation category is for people with a business case or a new idea that they want to take further. The third category is business waste reduction, for businesses to start initiatives to minimise waste, with Council covering up to 50 per cent of the cost.

Senior Infrastructre Support Officer Anna Thompson says that Enviroschools is a good example of a community based initiative that people could model a proposal on if they’re looking for inspiration.

“Enviroschools go into the participating schools and early childhood centres and basically educate the children early, and the children educate the parents, about sustainability and how to better care for the environment,” says Anna.

So, do you have a clever idea for reducing waste? What about a proposal for how your business or organisation  could minimise their waste? 

If so then Council really wants to hear from you!

Applications are open now and close on Monday 31 October.

All you need to do to apply is visit www.mdc.govt.nz/waste-not-want-not-fund and fill in the online application form. Alternatively you can request a paper form from our Council reception, or download and print one from the website.