Circular Economy Research and Development Fund: Organics – Information bulletin

Last updated: 1 August 2023
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Prior to 1 July 2022, this fund was named the Recycling Victoria Research and Development Fund: Organics.

This information bulletin provides information not covered specifically in the fund guidelines.

We will update this page as we receive new questions.

Information session

We held an information session to present an overview of the fund and application criteria.

Questions and answers

This section will be updated regularly based on questions we receive.

Projects

Is funding only available for composting and composting products?

No. Funding is available for projects to develop innovations that improve the processes, performance and systems of existing recycled organics products. For the purposes of this fund, existing recycled organics products may include:

  • digestate (produced by anaerobic digestion)
  • biochar (produced by pyrolysis)
  • compost (produced by a composting process)
  • existing biofertiliser products.

Are existing recycled organics products made from animal wastes, such as compost made from manures eligible?

Yes. However projects using organic wastes that are diverted from landfill will be more likely to be successful.

Are existing recycled organics products made from food waste eligible for funding?

Yes. An innovation that seeks to improve the systems that produce compost from food waste is eligible.

Are proof of concept research projects eligible? For example, demonstrating the impact of applying recycled organics to farmland to improve crop productivity.

Yes. However proof of concept work is typically at an early stage in a commercialisation timeline. But if you can make a case that your product will be commercialised by 2023/24 then you are still eligible.

Is there a preference for target markets? For example, are agricultural markets favoured?

No, we have no preference for agricultural markets or any other target market.

Funding

Are employee salaries eligible for funding?

The entire salary of an existing employee is not eligible for funding.

Staff costs directly related to the project can be included in the total project costs. Costs that are shown to be for new or additional staff, or for existing staff who are dedicated or specific to the project, could be eligible for the funding.

What is an ‘in-kind’ contribution?

An in-kind contribution is a contribution to the project budget other than cash.

You must match the requested grant amount (dollar for dollar). This includes in-kind contributions.

In-kind contributions can include the cost for activities that are directly related to delivering your project.

Examples of in-kind contribution:

  • Salaries paid by the Lead Applicant and Project Partner(s) for employee’s time.
  • Voluntary labour such as unpaid research time.
  • Internal laboratory time and associated costs.
  • Use of existing farm machinery.
  • Donated goods or services such as recycled materials for laboratory testing or prototype manufacturing.

Applicants must fairly justify how they determined the dollar value for in-kind contributions.

Commercialisation

Can you define what 'close to commercialisation' means? For example, are there criteria or milestones that must be reached to qualify?

We need to deliver results within the Recycling Victoria Policy funding timeline.

The term ‘close to commercialisation’ means that the innovation is likely to be commercialised before the end 2023/24 financial year.

We expect a diverse range of innovative projects with different pathways to commercialisation so we cannot set critical criteria or milestones that would be applicable to all projects.

We understand that there can be a long time between research and development, and commercialisation. This is why we have focused the funding on existing products and innovations around the processes, performance and systems associated with these products. Generally, these innovations are more easily commercialised than other innovations, such as new products.