Funding is now available for Recycling and Clean Energy projects under the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI).
Recycling and Clean Energy is the sixth and final of the government’s priority areas to open for funding under the MMI.
Investment in the sector will be guided by the Recycling and Clean Energy National Manufacturing Priority roadmap, which was released in tandem with the opening of the funding.
The roadmap highlights specific areas of investment opportunity, including recyclable products and packaging; products made from recycled feedstock, such as plastic or organic waste; hydrogen technologies; thermal energy; microgrids; inverters, specialised batteries; and low emissions steel and aluminium.
The MMI will help manufacturers to scale-up production, commercialise their products and operations, and integrate into domestic and global supply chains.
The government says funding will help unlock opportunities at home and overseas for manufacturers in the recycling and clean energy areas.
This funding is targeted at businesses that are manufacturing in these areas and will leverage the billions of dollars in other investments being made across government into recycling and clean energy projects.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley says the MMI support showed the government’s determination to create value from waste and keep it out of landfill and oceans.
“At a time when we are driving an unprecedented transformation of our recycling industries, this investment will encourage new technologies to recover, recycle and reprocess materials like e-waste and problematic plastics into new products,” explains Ley.
“We are taking action to ban problem exports, to create procurement markets for recycled goods and to establish industry-led product stewardship schemes that make it clear it isn’t good enough to simply throw things away at the end of their life.
“The Morrison government has placed waste and recycling firmly on the national agenda. They can and need to be made into new products.”
The $1.3 billion MMI is the centrepiece of the federal government’s $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy, which is an action plan to position the country as a globally recognised, high quality and sustainable manufacturing nation.
According to Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, the MMI was an important part of the government’s technology, not taxes, approach to reducing emissions.
“The government is backing in Australia’s potential to be a low emissions technology leader. Our support will support the growth of new industries and jobs,” adds Taylor.
“We’re a trusted supplier of energy, commodities and manufactured products across the Indo-Pacific. Getting the technologies of the future right will position us to support our customer countries’ efforts to decarbonise while growing their economies.”
Initial applications will be limited to the Translation and Integration streams of the MMI, with expressions of interest for the larger Collaboration stream to open soon.
Funding will be provided on a dollar-for-dollar co-investment basis, with grants ranging from $1 million to $20 million.
For more information on the roadmaps and available grant funding, click here.
