13/12/00
Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes said the Shire of Murray has received a grant of $22,244 in the latest round of grants from the Waste Management and Recycling Fund.
The grant will go towards the cost of undertaking a kerbside greenwaste recycling program trial.
In this project, the council will engage a contractor to provide a regular greenwaste collection from verges in all townsites in the shire.
The project will monitor information on participation levels, volumes of waste diverted, community acceptance of the service, and costs of collection and savings due to recycling. The material collected will be delivered to a compost processor.
Mrs Edwardes said the Shire of Murray was one of 41 grant recipients from the Waste Management and Recycling Fund totalling $1.02 million.
Western Australia’s Waste Management and Recycling Fund is raised from a levy on waste disposed to landfill. It is used to sponsor innovative waste reduction and recycling activities throughout the State.
“Each year almost $5 million is raised from the levy,” Mrs Edwardes said.
“Under the grants program, financial assistance is given to local communities, industry and local government organisations which have projects which will contribute towards the achievement of the State’s waste reduction targets.
“The grant is generally on a dollar-for-dollar basis and the preparedness of applicants to be equal partners in the projects demonstrates their commitment.”
The Shire of Murray believes this project will help overcome the problems with dealing with waste that have arisen since it no longer operates its own landfill facility.
Mrs Edwardes congratulated all successful recipients of grants in this funding round.
The total amount of grant funding under the program now totals over $6 million. An additional $2.2 million has also been allocated from the fund under the Municipal Recycling Services rebate scheme, which is a performance based incentive to local councils to reward them for their kerbside recycling collection efforts.
Mrs Edwardes reminded potential applicants that these grants would be advertised more frequently in future.
“The number of funding rounds has now increased from twice yearly to six times each year,” she said
The round that has recently been advertised will close on Friday, December 29. Inquiries for grants should be directed to the Funded Programs section of the Department of Environmental Protection on 9222 8608.
Media contact: Steve Manchee on 9421 7777
