Nextcycle Michigan Seed Award Program

The NextCycle Michigan Seed Award Program provides small-scale funding and support to early-stage projects focused on keeping materials out of landfills. The program is funded by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and aims to help initiatives get a jump-start on launching or scaling solutions that fill gaps in Michigan's circular economy and help divert materials toward the state's 45% recovery rate goal.

Eligible entities include businesses, public sector entities, solid waste authorities, tribal governments, universities and colleges, and nonprofit organizations. Participation in NextCycle Michigan accelerator tracks or other programming is not required to apply.

Projects must focus on early-stage solutions involving material reuse, repair, recycling, organic material recovery, or the integration of recycled and recovered material content into new products. Projects must be physically located in Michigan or clearly address materials generated within Michigan.

Applications are submitted online via the NextCycle Michigan portal during designated application windows. Interested organizations may sign up for the NextCycle Michigan mailing list to receive notification of upcoming application periods and can connect with program facilitators for guidance prior to applying.