Do you have an idea or project that can reduce waste in our district and help us achieve our Zero Waste 2040 goal?
The purpose of the Zero Waste Fund is to boost the district's performance in waste minimisation, reduce the amount of valuable material that ends up in landfills and help us towards our Zero Waste 2040 goal.
The Zero Waste Fund is available to support local organisations, mana whenua, individuals, schools or businesses to carry out new waste minimisation activities. This can happen through projects or programmes that help people reduce resource use and rethink, redesign, reuse, repair and repurpose valuable resources.
Note: All funds are sourced from the national levy on every tonne of waste disposed to landfill, which is overseen by the Ministry for the Environment and administered by local councils.
The Zero Waste Fund will be open for applications from 1-30 September 2025.
Please reach out to the Resource Recovery and Sustainability Team at NPDC with any questions you may have about the Zero Waste Fund. We are available to support you year-round with general enquiries before or during the application process to suggest project ideas, make sure your idea matches our criteria, or help with completing your application. All questions and queries are welcome.
Please note that any advice given by the team is not a guarantee of funding.
Applicants can be individuals, organisations businesses, schools/education providers or community groups, but they must be based in and delivering to the New Plymouth District.
Projects must promote or achieve new (can't be existing activities) waste minimisation activities within New Plymouth District. Consideration will be given to activities that:
The level of reporting required will depend on the amount of funding NPDC approves. For project proposals greater than $5,000, reporting will be required at key milestones, as well as a final outcomes report. For projects seeking less than $5,000, a final one-off report will be required
When you apply through Smarty Grants you will be required to provide the following:
All applications for funding will be assessed by a panel to ensure they align with the purpose of the and meet the funding requirements as outlined above. Your project proposal should also demonstrate how the project meets the following criteria:
*NB: funding will not be awarded for existing activities or the running costs of existing activities of organisations, individuals or groups.
*NB: In some cases, multi-year funding may be awarded, with milestones and reporting requirements throughout the funded period.
*NB: An in-kind contribution is a contribution of goods or a service other than money. Some examples include: voluntary labour (e.g. painting work or installation), donated goods (e.g. wood or printing) or donated services (e.g. professional advice, graphic design).
Sorry, but we can't fund:
Was this page useful?
Page last updated: 02:49pm Thu 24 July 2025