Nebraska awards nearly $2.5 million for recycling, outreach and litter cleanup projects, and applications are now being accepted for public bins for parks.
Cornhusker State grants: The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality awarded nearly $2.5 million in recycling-related grants. Of the total, 53 percent went to recycling efforts, 42 percent to public education (this includes programs that promote markets for recycled materials) and the remaining 5 percent went to litter cleanup efforts. The funds are generated by a fee charged to certain manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of products that commonly contribute to litter.
Market development funds: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has awarded $1 million in grants to eight companies to expand recycling in the state. The money flowed through the state’s Recycling Market Development Program, which was established in the early 1990s and provides money to nonprofit groups, public agencies and for-profit businesses, all of which are required to provide a 50 percent match.
Boost in Garden State: New Jersey has awarded $14.3 million in grants to help implement and enhance recycling efforts at the local level. The funding, which was based on 2014 recycling performance, was awarded through the Recycling Enhancement Act. The program is funded by a $3-per-ton tip fee surcharge.
School recycling money: Portland, Maine-based organization ecomaine awarded a total of more than $16,000 in 2017 School Recycling Grants to 12 Maine schools. The funds will be used to support small-scale projects in schools to reduce waste and encourage reuse and recycling.
Public recycling bins: Applications are now being accepted for the Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program. Now in its fifth year, the grant program has awarded more than 3,400 public recycling bins to local governments and community groups across 38 states. Applications for the 2017 round will be accepted until Feb. 24.
Beverage container grants: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has awarded nearly $1.5 million in Beverage Container Recycling Grant Program funds to 10 municipalities for 2016-17. The program’s goal is to help the state reach an 80 percent recycling rate for all bottles and cans covered in the California Refund Value program.
Textiles recycling: Washington State University (WSU) researchers studying cotton recycling are among the recipients of a Walmart Foundation grant this year, Walmart announced. Funding will help six universities with textiles sustainability research, including the WSU team’s effort “to establish a sustainable process to recycle cotton waste by fiber regeneration using a wet spinning technique.”
 
