Reduced plastic use and circular plastics economy

The aim of the call for applications is to support a smaller number of projects with great potential to transform the use of plastics and the plastics economy in Norway. We will prioritise projects that can demonstrate significant environmental effects and a clear impact on the Norwegian plastics system. Initiatives outside Norway may also apply, provided they can show a clear transferable value to Norway.

You can find the English version of this call for applications here.

• All types of companies can apply.

  According to the statutes, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund cannot support projects for individual members. However, it is now possible for our members in the category of industry organisations to receive support for projects provided the results of the project are made publicly available. The industry organisations currently members of The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund are Virke, NHO Service&Handel and the Grocery Retailers' Environment Forum.

• • Number of projects: 2-5 large projects (> NOK 5 million). It is also possible to apply for smaller projects provided they align well with the professional priorities in the call for applications
  • Total budget: Up to NOK 40 million
  • Project duration: Up to 3 years
  • Requirement for additional funding: Minimum 50% of total project costs. Additional funding may include 1) the applicant's own contribution, either in the form of working hours or money, 2) funds from private investors, or 3) support from funding schemes
  • Application process: Single-step application

Projects with partners covering the entire value chain are prioritised to ensure that the solutions work well in practice. This year’s main priority is packaging, where we use the most plastic. 

Packaging

• The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund aims to help Norway achieve the target in the Packaging Regulation of at least 55% material recycling by 2030. Therefore, we want to support measures that will significantly increase the sorting rate of plastic packaging and contribute to an optimised facility utilisation at the national level. Large municipalities and large inter-municipal companies are encouraged to apply, either individually or preferably in collaboration.
• The Packaging Regulation includes new and demanding goals related to the reduction and reuse of transport packaging in plastic. Therefore, the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund will prioritise measures that will help meet these requirements, such as the development of new reuse solutions and measures that reduce the use of transport packaging in line with the upcoming goals.
• The new requirements in the Packaging Regulation and subsequent legal acts will necessitate extensive standardisation work in the packaging value chain. Therefore, the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund wants to prioritise projects that help Norwegian businesses follow, participate in, and influence this work so that the transition work starts in time and the goals of the regulation are met.
• Measures that can help solve the challenges related to the depackaging of foodstuffs before biological treatment, so that as much plastic as possible can be recycled.

Other measures

The call for applications is open to measures in all industries, but not for projects within fisheries and aquaculture and chemical recycling.

• Circular solutions and business models that replace plastic or increase the lifespan of plastic products, for instance through repair and reuse.
• Measures for sorting out plastic waste from businesses to prevent large amounts of plastic from going directly to incineration.
• Solutions for sorting and recycling waste fractions containing a lot of plastic, for which there are currently no fully-fledged solutions in Norway, such as diapers.

• • Projects within fisheries and aquaculture and chemical recycling.
  • Projects that do not align with the call for applications' goals and priorities.
  • Regular operations, including rent, electricity, and similar. Project support may cover costs related to the development and piloting/testing of new solutions, but not ongoing costs once the solution has become part of the business's regular operations.
  • Measures and activities that were implemented before the date of grant allocation.

• • The applicant is the project owner. The application may include other businesses as project partners. Allocated funds are paid only to the project owner, with whom the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund enters into a project agreement. The project owner is responsible for further payments to any subcontractors, for executing the project according to the application, and for reporting to the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.
  • The applicant is obliged to describe the main findings and results in a summary that the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund is free to communicate.

  Reporting and Financials

  • Grant recipients must submit a brief status report before each project payment.
  • All grant recipients must submit a final report after the project is completed.
  • All reporting is done in the project portal.

  Accounts and Audit

  • See guidelines for project accounts and audit.
  • All projects must deliver project accounts for the entire project period as part of the final reporting.
  • For grants over 350,000 NOK up to and including 1 million NOK, the grant recipient's auditor must verify the project accounts by issuing a statement in accordance with ISRS 4400 Agreed-upon procedures. See the guidelines for more information.
  • For grants over 1 million NOK, the grant recipient's auditor must verify the project accounts for the entire project period through a regular audit in accordance with ISA 805. See the guidelines for more information.
  • Costs associated with using an auditor are incurred by the project and must be budgeted for in the application.
  • The hourly rates in the application must comply with the guidelines.

  Grant Allocations and VAT

  • Support from the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund can be used as a contribution in applications to other funding schemes.
  • Support from the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund includes any charges, including VAT. The funds are awarded as a gift.
  • The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund assesses that grant allocations are generally not subject to VAT, but it is the recipient's responsibility to comply with the VAT regulations, and this must be assessed independently by the recipient. The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund cannot be invoiced or otherwise charged for additional costs in cases where the applicant has misinterpreted the VAT regulations in their application for support. The applicant must clarify with their own auditor whether a grant will be subject to VAT or not.

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

  These are our external experts

  Selected external experts and the Board at the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund may gain access to the application when it is assessed and board-reviewed. In the application form, the applicant can state the names of people and entities they consider ineligible and thus should not have access to the application.

  Procedure for application processing

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

  Evaluation criteria

  The application will be assessed according to four criteria, with all criteria given equal weight on a scale from 1–7:

  Quality of the project

  The quality of the proposed measures, activities, and methods. The degree to which the proposed work is ambitious and innovative, realistic, and well-founded in knowledge and experience.

  Environmental impact

  The potential to reduce the negative environmental impacts of plastics in the short and long term. The degree to which the project can deliver good solutions and effects. Plans for the dissemination of results, knowledge, and concrete solutions developed in the project.

  Implementation

  The quality of the project's organisation, management, and resource use. The degree to which the project is well organized, with the right expertise in the project group and partners.

  Professional priorities

  The degree to which the project responds to the professional priorities of the call for applications.

  Some projects are reviewed extra carefully

  Applies to applications of more than NOK 5 million and selected projects that, according to the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund's assessment, require more thorough evaluation.

  A web meeting will be conducted with participation from the applicant and case officers at the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.

  The applicant presents the project, and case officers and experts have the opportunity to ask questions about the application and the project.

• • For questions about the project portal: Contact Borghild Storaas at borghild@handelensmiljofond.no
  • For questions about the call for applications: Contact Sjur Kvifte Nesheim at sjur@handelensmiljofond.no

• • The applicant must have an organisation number and be registered in the Brønnøysund Register Centre or the equivalent internationally.
  • The applicant must register the business and contact persons in the project portal.
  • The application must be submitted via the project portal.
  • Project results must be able to be made publicly available.
  • Finances:Rules for hourly ratesAudit
  • Rules for hourly rates
  • Audit
  • Realistic budgets and descriptions of how the funds will be used
  • Requirement for other funding: Minimum 50% of the total project costs
  • The application must be written in Norwegian or English.
  • Any previous agreements with the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund must have been complied with.
  • Additional requirements may apply for projects over 5 million NOK, projects in sanctioned countries, projects with a high risk of corruption, and projects in countries with a low score on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.