A PLAN to trial a home composting program in 50 Port Phillip households didn’t get off the ground because the council’s application for state government funding was knocked back.
Earlier this year Port Phillip council applied for almost $35,000 from a pool of $5.5 million.
About half the funding was to go towards a home composting trial that measured waste output.
Under the proposal, the council wanted to install a kitchen receptacle and compost bin in 50 homes.
But the Metropolitan Waste Management Group, which provides funding for projects aimed at improving waste collection and management, refused the council’s application because it lacked “long-term viability”. The proposals were also labelled less innovative than those put forward by other councils.
Of the 30 metropolitan Melbourne councils eligible under the scheme, 27 applied for funding in 2012. The City of Port Phillip was one of eight councils that were unsuccessful. MWMG acting chief executive Graeme Stewart said the council’s projects did not score highly against the selection criteria.
“They did not provide an appropriate level of detail about their long-term viability,” he said.
“Projects that were funded had displayed more innovative solutions and had well articulated objectives and actions for delivery.”
This year, Whitehorse, Casey, Bayside and Kingston councils were awarded $85,000, $75,000, $50,000 and $21,000 respectively to roll out home composting programs.