Mobilisation for plastic litter cleanup

• • Mobilise many volunteers, such as schools, voluntary organisations or local communities
  • Organise many cleanup events over an extended period
  • Have the potential to collect large amounts of plastic
  • Contribute to collaboration across voluntary organisations, businesses and public entities
  • Provide a social value-added, for example by including disadvantaged groups

• • Project size: Only exceptionally larger than 1 million NOK
  • Project duration: Up to 2 years after allocation

• • Working hours for planning and organising larger cleanup operations
  • Minor costs for marketing to mobilise for cleanup
  • Transport and handling of waste when this is not covered by the reimbursement scheme
  • Food at cleanup operations, up to NOK 50 per cleaner per day
  • When mobilising school pupils during school hours, it is possible to apply for up to NOK 200 per pupil per day in motivational funds.

  Requirements for gentle cleaning

  • Cleaning should not take place in particularly vulnerable areas. See map from the Norwegian Environment Agency, tick the nature reserve box at the bottom left of the map. Otherwise, use common sense.
  • Consider the vulnerable birdlife when planning the cleanup operation, see report from BirdLife.
  • In some areas, there are restrictions on movement during certain periods. This is usually from 15 April to 15 July, but there are local deviations.

• Planned cleanup activities must be correctly registered on ryddenorge.no. It is important that you do not register activities before you have received the grant. The activities must be tagged with the cleanup tag "mobiliseringhmf", and the activity codes must be entered in the final report.

  The results of the cleanup activities should be registered on ryddenorge.no. User guide can be found here

  When cleaning the outer coast, it must be checked that planned areas are not covered by the Cleanup Norway in Time programme. Open Clean Sea, click on the thematic layer group "Cleanup Norway in Time" and select the thematic layer "Cleanup Norway in Time – Priority Areas".
  

• • Salaries for participants, except for motivational incentives to students cleaning during school hours
  • Planning and organising underwater cleaning
  • Planning and organising the retrieval of shipwrecks
  • Awareness work beyond the actual cleanup activity
  • Support cannot be applied for both Mobilising to clean plastic litter and The Community Plastics cleanup (link).
  • No funds are provided for projects in Svalbard in this call for applications.
  • Note: No support can be applied for projects that received support from the Environment Agency earlier this year (link).

• • The applicant must have an organisation number and be registered in the Brønnøysund Register Centre.
  • Businesses and contact persons must be registered in the project portal.
  • Applications must be submitted through the project portal.
  • Finance (more information here)Regulations for hourly rates in the calculation of project expensesAudit, including threshold amounts and guidance for the applicant's auditor
  • Regulations for hourly rates in the calculation of project expenses
  • Audit, including threshold amounts and guidance for the applicant's auditor
  • The applicant must provide realistic budgets and describe how the funds will be used.
  • Applications must be written in Norwegian or English.
  • Any previously made agreements with the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund must be adhered to.

• Before the second and subsequent payments, the recipient must submit a status report for the project when requesting the disbursement of funds.
• Multi-year projects: the recipient must submit a written annual report for the project each year.
• All projects must submit a final report for the project.
• All reports must be submitted electronically in the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund’s project portal. This will be explained in the startup meeting.

Guide to project accounting and auditing

Project accounts and auditing

• All projects must prepare final project accounts for the entire project period as part of the final report.
• For grants from NOK 350,000 up to and including NOK 1,000,000, a statement must also be provided by a state-authorised public accountant with “Agreed-upon procedures” in accordance with ISRS 4400 Agreed-upon procedures.
• For grants exceeding NOK 1,000,000, a statement must also be provided by a state-authorised public accountant with an audit of the project accounts in accordance with ISA 805 (Revised), Special considerations – audits of single financial statements and specific elements, accounts or items of a financial statement.

Costs associated with the use of an accountant are incurred by the project, and must be included in the budget when relevant.

• 
  The processing of the application follows a strict impartiality and confidentiality agreement. Read the agreements here. Please note that the information in the application may be shared confidentially with other funding entities (such as the Norwegian Environment Agency and Sparebankstiftelsen) in connection with application processing where relevant. This is to ensure good and efficient processing, as well as the appropriate use of funds.
  

  Selected experts from the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund's Expert Committee and Board may gain access to the application when it is being assessed and board-processed. In the application form, the applicant can provide the names of individuals and organisations they believe have a conflict of interest, thus preventing them from accessing the application.
  

  Application Processing Routine
  
  

  • Application Assessment: At least two employees in the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund assess the application. In addition, external experts with relevant knowledge are used:Applications up to and including 500,000 NOK: An external expert is involved only if the administration deems it necessary.Applications over 500,000 NOK, up to and including 1 million NOK: At least one external expert assesses the application.Applications over 1 million NOK: At least two external experts assess the application.
  • Applications up to and including 500,000 NOK: An external expert is involved only if the administration deems it necessary.
  • Applications over 500,000 NOK, up to and including 1 million NOK: At least one external expert assesses the application.
  • Applications over 1 million NOK: At least two external experts assess the application.
  • Decision: The administration in the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund compiles their own and external experts' assessments and presents recommended allocations to the board, which makes the final decision.
    

  Assessment Criteria
  
  

  The application will be evaluated based on four criteria, all of which are weighted equally on a scale from 1–7:

  • Project Quality
    
  • Environmental Impact
  • Implementation
    
  • Scientific Priorities

  Under these assessment criteria, we evaluate:Number of participants and cleanup hours mobilisedExperience and competence in organising cleanup operations in a considerate, safe, and effective mannerPotential to clean up large amounts of plasticSocial added value

  Some Projects are Subject to More Thorough Processing
  
  

  • Applies to applications for more than 1 million NOK and selected projects that, in the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund's assessment, require more thorough evaluation.
  • An online meeting will be conducted with participation from the applicant, case handlers in the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund, and external experts.
  • The applicant presents the project, and case handlers and experts are given the opportunity to ask questions about the application and the project.

The call aims to mobilise for the cleanup of plastic litter in Norway. Larger cleanup actions with broad participation and the potential to remove large quantities of plastic will be prioritised.

All types of enterprises can apply.