Manufacturers in Queensland are set to recover, recycle and reprocess more sustainable products with assistance from the state government’s $10 million ReMade in Queensland program.
The grant round is an initiative of the $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund.
This new round will be called ‘ReMiQ’ as a targeted round of the existing and very successful Made in Queensland (MiQ) program.
ReMiQ will help local small-to-medium sized manufacturing and recycling businesses adopt remanufacturing processes that reduce waste and energy costs, reuse materials that might otherwise end up in landfill and convert these materials into new manufactured goods.
QLD Minister for Manufacturing Glenn Butcher stated that the government’s investments in these programs have created and supported more than 7000 jobs across the state.
The ReMiQ program will drive the manufacturing sector’s delivery on the Queensland Government’s Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy, which aims to recover 80 per cent of all waste and achieve 65 per cent recycling rates across all waste types by 2030.
Applicants can submit an Expressions of Interest (EOI) for grant funding between $50,000 and $2.5 million to support projects that increase the reuse of existing recycled material streams in manufacturing or enable diversification to remanufacture new waste streams.
QLD Acting Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef and Minister for Science and Innovation Grace Grace said: “The $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund, which is supporting the ReMade in Queensland initiative, helps Queensland’s transition to a circular economy, where products and materials are retained for their longest possible use then recycled or reused.
“A circular economy maximises the value of our products and materials by reducing waste and pollution, reducing precious materials going to landfill, and mitigating greenhouse gas and carbon emissions.”
Expressions of interest for the ReMiQ program open 16 January, with submissions closing 19 February 2024.
Guidelines for the new grant round are now available on the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water’s website.