Waste Reduction Grants

Applicants can be individuals, community groups, or non-profit organizations within the capital region. For-profit businesses are not eligible for this program.

Examples of eligible applicants include:

• Resident, tenant, and neighborhood groups
• Community and religious organizations
• Registered charitable and non-profit organizations
• School, university or college groups, clubs, parent councils
• Local governments and First Nation community groups

Learn more about successful grant recipients by watching this playlist.

Projects should follow the 5R pollution prevention hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery and residuals management) and fulfill one or more of the following:

• Foster long-term behavioral change through consumer responsibility
• Educate on/and or apply proper waste sorting and recycling practices 
• Projects that promote the movement of materials to higher and next best use 
• Advance the life cycle of materials towards a circular economy (i.e. product care/maintenance, repair, and upcycling) 
• Establish or expand local services for managing unwanted items 

• Purchase of individual kitchen containers for multi-family residents to collect organics
• Support for lending libraries or other sharing initiatives
• Sorting of waste and recyclables at community events (e.g., compost, recycling and refundables) 
• Purchasing a dishwasher to eliminate use of single use plates/cutlery
• Zero-waste networking events to support circular economy 
• Hosting and organizing Repair Cafe events
• Creating new products from unused materials
• Creating preserves and other products to reduce food waste

Learn more about the different types of projects that have received funding by watching these short videos.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate RWCG applications:

• Potential for waste reduction
• Community engagement
• Partnerships created and maintained
• Impact potential and long-term sustainability
• Outcomes and measurable impact

Areas such as innovation, climate action, circular economy, preventable food waste and impact on 5R hierarchy will also be considered. 

Applicants will be notified within 30 business days whether or not the application has been approved for funding.

Funding for the Rethink Waste Community Grant is $5,000 per project. Organizations can submit multiple projects, as long as the total doesn’t exceed $10,000 per year. 

There is no timeline for submission of an application however, it is based on a first come first serve basis. If funding is limited, a notice will be posted on our website; otherwise, you can assume funding is available. 

Applicants will have one calendar year from the date the application was approved to complete all project activities and submit a final report. Grant funds are released after review and approval of the final report. Requests for an advance on funds in order to purchase supplies or equipment will be considered.

The CRD reserves the right to audit all projects. Please retain supporting documentation including invoices and receipts for two years.

Reporting

A final report detailing the outcomes of the project will be required. Please include:

• Project name/Applicant
• Goals/Objectives
• Achievements (community engagement, waste reduction, etc.)
• Challenges/barriers encountered
• Project cost and use of grant funds
• Impact potential and long-term sustainability 
• Photos of project in progress or finished products 
  •  In order to share your projects on CRD platforms, please complete a signed photo release for any identifiable people (Adult [PDF/124KB] and Minor [PDF/125KB])

Communications

Recipients will be asked to acknowledge financial assistance from CRD in their communications. For projects where the general public is invited to participate, we can assist with promotion.

One of the key actions identified in the Solid Waste Management Plan, the Rethink Waste Community Grant program provides funding for the development and implementation of community-based projects that align with the 5R pollution prevention hierarchy of moving waste materials out of landfills to their highest and best next use.