Application periods for the latest NextCycle programs have opened and will run through March 31, 2025: NextCycle Sustainable Packaging Accelerator and NextCycle Michigan. Both programs will provide business and technical support to advance projects that divert materials from landfills and keep valuable resources in use.
Each accelerator program runs for six months, offering expert support to refine business and operational plans, analyze economic and environmental impacts, hone product/service features, create marketing elements, connect with value chain partners, and identify funding pathways. Both programs culminate with a showcase event where participants pitch their projects to a live audience with the chance to attract investors, win monetary awards, and generate publicity.
The programs are free and do not require equity share. Teams are asked to commit their time to participate in two in-person events, multiple virtual coaching sessions, and offline individual efforts to build their projects.
NextCycle Sustainable Packaging Accelerator
The NextCycle Sustainable Packaging Accelerator is seeking applicants with solutions to improve the efficiency and recyclability of packaging with specific focus on impacts in Michigan and Ohio.
Eight teams will be selected to participate. Eligible entities include startups, entrepreneurs, businesses, institutions, nonprofits, or a collaboration of the listed entities.
Projects can be focused on novel technologies, recyclable or reusable systems, waste-minimizing designs, bio-based alternatives, or other solutions that increase efficiency and recyclability of packaging used in the transport, distribution, storage, sale, or use of goods.
A virtual group meeting is being held on March 4th to provide additional program information and allow attendees to ask questions on eligibility, the application process, selection criteria, time commitment, project types, and more.
The NextCycle Sustainable Packaging Accelerator is driven by a coalition of leading organizations, including the Sustainability Hub for an Alternative Packaging Ecosystem (SHAPE), Michigan State University Research Foundation, Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), and Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), along with a broad network of collaborators.
NextCycle Michigan Accelerator
NextCycle Michigan, an initiative of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), is designed to accelerate solutions that build capacity for material recovery, reuse, and recycling in Michigan.
The program, currently in its fifth year, will select 15-18 projects focused on strengthening Michigan’s circular economy in these specific areas:
- Programs and Infrastructure: Projects led by public sector entities to develop, scale or replicate successful systems (collection, authorities, shared infrastructure), expand residential/commercial access to recycling or composting, or innovate in these areas and beyond.
- Supply Chain: Projects led by private sector or non-profit entities that are focused on gaps in material collection, recovered material processing, or end markets for reusable or recyclable materials in Michigan.
NextCycle Michigan participants can include entrepreneurs, start-ups, businesses, non-profit organizations, institutions, tribes, public agencies and local governments who are driven to divert materials from landfills in Michigan. Out-of-state organizations can be part of a team however, the project must directly recover Michigan materials.
An informational virtual meeting will be held on March 6, 2025. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend to hear an overview of the program and to ask questions about eligibility, project types, selection criteria, and more.
Published February 2025
