Up to $50,000 is available to implement materials efficiency projects.
About
The Smarter Resources, Smarter Business program invests $14 million over five years to help a variety of industry sectors use their resources more efficiently.
The program has three categories:
- Energy and materials to help small to medium sized business be more competitive and productive.
- Energy efficient office buildings to help commercial office building owners reduce energy use and costs while increasing tenant appeal and asset value.
- Recycling to help business realise the potential financial value of waste.
Smarter Resources Smarter Business – Energy and Materials Program
The Smarter Resources Smarter Business – Energy and Materials Program provides funding and support for small to medium sized businesses to improve their energy and materials efficiency and boost productivity through:
Some examples of the types of activities that can be funded include:
Materials efficiency:
- Process efficiencies and improvements including:
- Internal reuse of product material, processing material, or packaging material.
- Product or services redesign.
Energy efficiency:
- Energy efficiency improvements to compressed air systems.
- More efficient use of process heat and steam, such as reuse of ‘waste heat’, improved insulation to reduce process heat loss, and improvements to steam return systems.
- Best practice lighting efficiency upgrades (only in non-retail applications).
Funding
Capital funding grants of up to $50,000 are available to implement materials efficiency projects or up to $25,000 for energy efficiency projects.
Expert Assistance
Writing a good quality grant application is a critical element in the application process. An application needs to be well thought through, written concisely, have clear objectives and purpose, and show clear links to the objectives of the grant guidelines.
The grant application must answer all questions, provide all required information and respond to the merit criteria. It should also reflect your organisation’s business strategy.
Writing a good application takes time and effort, and requires particular writing skills.
Bulletpoint are expert grant consultants and can assist with all aspects of grant preparation.
Timing
Capital Funding Round 3 closed on 2 May 2014.
Round 3 Recipients
Sustainability Victoria congratulates all the Victorian businesses that were successful in applying for Capital Funding grants. Three rounds of grants over the past two years have provided $3.8 million in funding to over 140 projects, helping businesses implement measures to significantly reduce energy and materials to save thousands of dollars a year.
These businesses are expected to save a combined $4.74 million a year, or $23.7 million over five years.
| Business | Project | Funding |
| A.G. Brown Sawmill | Improve climate control systems of timber kilns which will reduce material waste and energy consumption, and will allow for production of a greater product range. | $50,000 |
| AFCOL Australia Ltd | Purchase of new cooking equipment that will significantly reduce wastage. | $50,000 |
| Airstep Australia | Installation of a system to pre-process materials used in production of foam underlay, making more efficient use of materials. | $30,223 |
| Ballantyne Foods | Installation of a system to recover and reuse cleaning chemicals used in sanitation of food processing equipment, saving materials, water, energy and trade waste charges. | $50,000 |
| Centre State Asphalting | Installation of an asphalt waste recycling unit, saving significant quantities of raw materials. | $50,000 |
| Dollar Sweets Company | Purchase of new confectionary production equipment that will reduce by half the material waste resulting from operating this equipment. | $50,000 |
| ABMT Textiles | Installation of alternative waste water treatment technology that will allow the dye house to recover and reuse more materials. The upgrade will also save water, energy, and trade waste charges. | $45,000 |
| Giorgio Dental Laboratories | Purchase of a 3D printer for producing dental prostheses, eliminating waste associated with traditional plaster moulds, improving accuracy and reducing production cost and time. | $48,910 |
| Showerline | Provision of new equipment that will save materials and improve productivity in the manufacturing of shower bases, providing the construction industry with alternative, less materials-intensive products. | $50,000 |
| Heslop Contract Casters | Implementation of an innovative new die-casting process for producing magnesium alloy capsules that would significantly reduce the materials used. | $50,000 |
| Rhodes Orchards | Installation of a netting system to protect fruit from birds and bats, saving produce and improving the quality of apples. | $27,710 |
| Big Fellas Cherries | Installation of a netting system to reduce hail damage, saving produce and improving the quality of cherries. | $50,000 |
| Moraitis Tomatoes | Installation of equipment to better control greenhouse temperature and humidity, significantly increasing yield. | $50,000 |
| Oakmoor Orchards | Introduction of an evaporative cooling system to reduce crop damage from heat stress, leading to substantial savings of produce and improving the quality of apples. | $40,000 |
| Plaster Profiles/Regency Plaster | Installation of improved systems that will eliminate waste and new equipment that will allow reuse of any residual plaster waste. | $50,000 |
| La Madre Bakery | Purchase of a dough cutting machine to reduce waste, and software to improve demand planning and therefore reduce over-production and associated waste. | $14,950 |
| Mister Cabinets | Installation of new equipment that will allow for more efficient cutting of boards used in kitchen cabinets, reducing waste. | $47,300 |
| Vincent Painting Contractors | New sand blasting facility with the capacity to capture and reuse blast material. | $50,000 |
| Edible Forest Gardens | Introduction of an improved system for managing weeds – including a steam weeder and pasteurisation cabinet – that will result in material savings and reduced stock losses. | $10,855 |
| Corryong Licensed Supermarket | Improvements to refrigeration efficiency – including installation of a heat pump to use heat from refrigeration units to heat hot water, controls to optimise temperature settings, and the installation of variable speed drives. | $14,609 |
| Ace Wire Works | Installation of LED lighting and daylight sensors. | $25,000 |
| Canterbury Blinds and Windows | Installation of LED lighting. | $25,000 |
| Axima | Installation of LED lighting and motion an |