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Applications for the 2025/26 Resource Wise Community Fund are now open.

The 2025/26 Resource Wise Community Fund support initiatives aimed at reducing waste to landfill, promoting sustainability, and align with actions set out in the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2022-2028 (WMMP).

Grants range from $2,000 to $25,000 from a pool of $100,000. 

Individuals and groups can submit applications by the deadline of Friday 13th June. 

For more information, contact resource.wise@tauranga.govt.nz

About the Resource Wise Community Fund

The Resource Wise Community Fund is sourced from the Waste Levy, provided to councils by the Ministry for the Environment for waste minimisation education, and does not impose additional costs on general rates.

The Resource Wise Community Fund is in its 8^th year and adjusts its priorities annually to align with council goals.

Learn about successful applicants from previous years

Priority outcomes for the 2025/26 funding round include:

• Promote a shift up the Waste Hierarchy* to focus on avoidance and reduction.
• Achievement of specific actions within the WMMP. This year’s priority WMMP actions are:
  • Action 15 - Investigate, consider, trial, and implement innovative smart technology solutions for waste management.
  • Action 19 - Investigate, consider, trial, and implement solutions for the diversion of construction and demolition waste in collaboration with private industry.
  • Action 20 - Investigate, consider, trial, and implement services for targeted waste streams, particularly hard-to-recycle items such as soft plastics, small lids, textiles, and batteries.
  • Action 25 - Promote food waste prevention, food and garden waste rescue initiatives, and home and community composting.
  • Action 29 - Investigate, consider, trial, and implement changes to support a circular economy.
• Identify opportunities that support a transition to a circular economy and provide solutions where appropriate.
• Encourage and support iwi and cultural groups to reduce waste to landfill

The Waste Hierarchy

Source: Ministry for the Environment

Example of a successful community grant application

EnviroHub – Precious Plastic: Caring for Papatuanuku
What the grant supported

Envirohub wanted to engage with an additional 12 organisations in Tauranga and extend their collection network to grow and reinforce the behaviour change opportunities and promote/demonstrate recycling of valuable resources. Envirohub planned to undertake two annual visits to 12 preschools/kohanga reo, schools/kura and community groups to talk about the importance and value of consumer choices and behaviours that align with the higher levels of the waste hierarchy, keeping plastic lids out of landfill, the things that can make plastic difficult to recycle, processes used to transform our community's plastic lids into cool stuff.

View example application (177kb pdf)

Funding timelines

Apply now

Examples of a Resource Wise Community Fund recipient 2024

• Good Neighbour Food Rescue keeps on trucking
• Tauranga aged care residence trials reusable incontinence products to reduce landfill waste