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Grant watch

 

Resource Recycling highlights recent industry-related grant awards and opportunities. If your company or organization has a funding opportunity to share, contact [email protected] to be included here.

March 6, 2024: The U.S. EPA awarded the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians a $653,120 grant to expand recycling infrastructure and increase circular waste management. Funded by the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling program for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians will update its recycling center on the reservation. 

Feb. 20, 2024: American Beverage and The Recycling Partnership granted Rockford, Illinois $225,000 to help the city modernize its curbside recycling program. The funds are part of the Every Bottle Back Initiative and will allow the city to upgrade from 32-gallon recycling bins to universally provided 64-gallon recycling carts.Feb. 8, 2024: New Hampshire the Beautiful awarded three towns grants for recycling equipment totaling $8,000. Alstead, Epsom, New Hampshire was awarded $1,440 to help purchase a 40-yard roll-off container to collect and transport recyclables. Lee, New Hampshire was awarded $5,000 for a Kubota skid-steer to replace a 20-year old model. Northfield, New Hampshire was awarded $1,654 to purchase two storage containers.

Feb. 2, 2024: The Vinyl Institute awarded four companies grants totaling almost $740,000 to advance PVC recycling. The companies are Oligomaster of Hamilton, Ontario; Exeon Processors of Jonesboro, Indiana; PolyJoule of Billerica, Massachusetts; and Allied Industries International of Jonesville, South Carolina. The grants are part of the Vinyl Institue’s Viability grant program, which plans to distribute $3 million over a three-year period. 

Jan. 23, 2024: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) granted Goodwill’s Green Works $50,000 to buy a foam densifier. Green Works is a non-profit industrial recycler and subsidiary of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit. The equipment will allow about 1 million residents in Detroit and neighboring communities to recycle materials such as foam polystyrene cups, plates, bowls, take-out containers, egg cartons and block packaging foam. The resulting foam ingots will be sold to be manufactured into thermal insulation panels for foundations, walls and roofs, as well as picture frames and crown molding. Goodwill’s Green Works is the 34th grant recipient to receive FRC funding since 2015.

Dec. 27, 2023: The U.S. EPA awarded a $3.6 million grant to the city of Ontario, Calif., to help it upgrade recycling collection infrastructure and reduce food waste using a digital donation tool. The award comes from EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grants program.

Dec. 19, 2023: The U.S. EPA has awarded nearly $2.2 million in grants to small businesses with various technologies, including several related to recycling and reuse. A press release notes the EPA awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 grants to 22 small businesses. The ones related to recycling are Brooklyn, N.Y.-based ChemFinity Technologies, which is developing a method to recover precious metals from catalytic converters and other solid waste; Binghamton, N.Y.-based KLAW Industries, which is developing an autonomous robotic system for sorting recycling; Worcester, Mass.-based Valis Insights, which is creating an AI-powered software tool to recover valuable materials from metal recycling; Laramie, Wyo.-based Acadian Research & Development, which is developing a method to recycled wood waste into graphene oxide for use in concrete; Akron, Ohio-based The Smart Tire Company, which is developing a way to reuse and recycle superelastic shape memory alloys for use in airless, never-flat tires; and Jacksonville, Fla.-based GreenTechnologies, which is working on a technology to recycle food waste into enhanced fertilizers. 

Other projects touch on reuse, including Arlington, Mass.-based Recirclable, which is developing an approach to increase restaurant reusable takeout packaging; and Gainesville, Fla.-based Material Reuse, which is creating a time-efficient and robust way of assessing building materials for reuse before the building is demolished.

Dec. 18, 2023: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) awarded over $540,000 in Community Recycling Grants to 15 applicants. The three largest grants – all for $100,000 – went to the city of Nappanee, the Indianapolis Airport Authority and the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County, according to a press release. Under the state grant program, eligible recipients include counties, municipalities, solid waste management districts, schools, universities and nonprofit organizations located in Indiana. Funds for the grants come from a fee of 50 cents per ton for solid waste disposed of at landfills and incinerators. 

Dec. 14, 2023: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) awarded over $130 million to local governments and companies to help them divert organics from landfills. The department on Dec. 14 approved 23 grant awards totaling $130.6 million through the competitive grant program. The awards cover two fiscal years, 2021-22 and 2022-23, with money coming mostly from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, with a little also coming from the General Fund. The money will go to fund standalone pre-processing systems, anaerobic digestion equipment, co-digestion technology, composting facilities and in-vessel treatment equipment.

Dec. 7, 2023: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched what it’s calling the Re-X Before Recycling Prize, which will award up to $5.6 million to support reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and/or repurposing innovations. The prize, which is from the DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, includes three phases: identification, preparation and development. The “Identify!” phase is now open for submissions and will award up to 20 winners $50,000 in cash, as well as consulting support from a national laboratory. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on March 12, 2024. Informational webinars will be held on Dec. 14 and Jan. 17, 2024

Nov. 20, 2023: A British Columbia credit union has given grants to a number of organizations involved in repair, reuse and recycling. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, or Vancity, provided a total of $1 million in grants to 25 efforts tied to combating climate change, according to a press release. Recipients receiving $10,000 or more (all dollars in Canadian) included Creative Victoria, which has a reuse center providing diverted materials to artists and educators, and two other organizations, Ridge Meadows Recycling Society and Langley Environmental Partners Society, both of which host repair cafes. Recipients of $25,000-plus grants included the Recycling Council of BC, which is expanding its Recyclepedia database, and BetterTable.ca, which addresses food waste in the hospitality industry. Finally, among organizations receiving $30,000-plus grants, Circular Citizen received a $35,000 award to develop “a playbook for circular innovation in product development,” the release states.

Nov. 16, 2023: The Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) is accepting pre-propoals for research grants. EREF, which funds solid waste and recycling research, will accept submissions until Dec. 1. 

Nov. 9, 2023: The U.S. EPA has awarded $1.2 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants to three California companies involved in recycling. According to a press release, the recipients of the $400,000 Phase II grants are the following small businesses: Hydrova, which has a technology recovering materials and producing hydrogen from secondary aluminum processing waste; Kamilo, which provides digital verification of recycled content in plastic products and has a TrustMark verification label; and Zabble, which uses AI to monitor contamination in recycling and composting streams. Several federal agencies participate in the SBIR program, which has two phases: Phase 1 provides up to $100,000 for six months during a technology “proof of concept” phase, and Phase II provides up to $400,000 to further develop and commercialize the technologies. All Phase II grant recipients have already received Phase I funds.

Nov. 8, 2023: The Plastics Action Fund in British Columbia is accepting applications for plastic waste reduction grants. The fund, which is managed by a nonprofit called Alacrity Canada on behalf of the B.C. government, provides grants to support the use of post-consumer resin (PCR). For this grant cycle, the fund will support projects under four main funding categories: PCR usage, circular economy innovations, regional plastics innovations and indigenous projects. The application period opened Oct. 20, 2023, and will continue through Dec. 2, 2024, according to the website.  

Nov. 7, 2023: A recycling-related mobile app developer will receive a $1.8 million grant from the Google.org Impact Challenge-Tech for Social Good. According to a press release, Stockholm-based Bower will receive the grant and has been selected for a Google.org Fellowship, which begins in January 2024. Working with Google experts, Bower will develop a machine learning-powered waste collection mobile app that rewards users for accurately sorting materials. The company’s current app, which is free to use, rewards users with money, discounts and coupons when they recycle.

Nov. 2, 2023: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) has awarded $2 million in grants to support recycling markets for plastics, OCC, construction materials, glass and more. According to a press release, the funding from the department’s Recycling Market Development Program (RMDP) went to the following organizations: CT Polymers received $300,000 to buy plastics recycling equipment, CW Recycling received $500,000 to buy equipment for a new sorting facility, Exeon Processors received over $288,000 to buy plastic separation equipment, Floyd County Solid Waste Management District received over $52,000 to buy community drop-off recycling trailers and develop an outreach plan, GDC received nearly $99,000 to purchase a baler and collection containers to help divert plastic and OCC, Indiana Shingle Recycling received over $360,000 to buy asphalt shingle recycling equipment, SER North America (a subsidiary of Sirmax North America) received nearly $297,000 to buy plastic recycling equipment, and Strategic Materials received over $103,000 to buy drop-off collection containers to expand glass recycling efforts in rural areas. 

Nov. 1, 2023: Colorado officials are accepting applications for the fifth year of the state’s recycling market development program, which is called NextCycle Colorado. The program includes a business accelerator for businesses and entrepreneurs. In addition to receiving free consulting support, selected teams are invited to participate in a boot camp and pitch their innovation at a competition, with the opportunity to win a cash prize. The fifth round of the accelerator will run from January 2024 through May 2024. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1, 2023. In the first four years of NextCycle Colorado, 34 teams have participated, and the state has provided nearly $3 million in grant funding to over one-third of the teams. A press release noted that many of the teams that have progressed through the program have gone on to secure additional investments totaling over $70 million.

Nov. 1, 2023: The Vinyl Institute (VI) announced its second round of PVC recycling grants through its VIABILITY recycling grant program. The second round involved a total of $330,000 in funding for the following five organizations: Auto Mats & Accessories of Dalton, Ga.; the Consortium for Waste Circularity of Gainesville, Fla.; Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance of Schaumburg, Ill.; Green Eagle of Georgetown, S.C.; and the Revinylize Recycling Collaborative of Alexandria, Va. Grants can support R&D, equipment purchases, educational programs and program management.

Oct. 30, 2023: Organizers of a European green startup business awards program are accepting applications. Landbell Group, an international company that provides takeback, consulting and software for environmental and chemical compliance, started the Green Alley Award in 2014. Focused on European circular economy startups in the fields of recycling, waste prevention and digital solutions, the Green Alley Award program provides a prize of 25,000 euros, according to a press release. Applications are due Nov. 20, 2023.

Oct. 26, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) provided a $50,000 grant to help the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District (SWMD) in Ohio purchase a foam densifier. According to a press release, the equipment will allow the district to accept drop-off foam polystyrene packaging for recycling. The Geauga-Trumbull SWMD also received funding for the project from the state of Ohio. The grant is the 33rd FRC grant since 2015. 

Oct. 26, 2023: Two aluminum can manufacturers are funding grants to help MRFs in California and Indiana recover more UBCs, according to a press release. Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings provided can capture grants to GreenWaste in San Jose, Calif., and RecyclingWorks in Elkhart, Ind. GreenWaste will use the money to install a second eddy current separator, and RecyclingWorks will install a robotic sorter on the residue conveyor. The grants are provided through a collaboration with The Recycling Partnership and the Can Manufacturers Institute.

Oct. 19, 2023: The nonprofit group ReFED, which puts corporate dollars toward managing food waste, is accepting applications for grants targeting food waste reduction in restaurant settings. The ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund will support “proven or pilot-ready food waste solutions that are simple, affordable, and convenient to implement and/or have a strong business case for small to medium-sized independent restaurants – including increased cost savings, improved staff retention, higher customer acquisition, and more,” according to an announcement. An informational webinar will be held at 1 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 1. The deadline to submit letters of intent is Nov. 20.

Oct. 12, 2023: The Recycling Partnership provided a $495,000 grant to the West Tennessee Regional Recycling Hub to expand a MRF in Henderson, Tenn. The money, which was matched by $330,000 from the recipient, will overhaul the MRF. The project involves installing robotic sorters, which will upgrade the MRF’s capacity to recover PET and PP, as well as expand the tipping floor, allowing the facility to receive an additional 3,500 tons per year. Funding for the grant came from The Recycling Partnership and American Beverage. The MRF was originally built with a $6.5 million grant from the state of Tennessee. 

Oct. 10, 2023: The Recycling Partnership awarded grants to four MRFs across the country to help them improve their used beverage can (UBC) recovery rates. According to a press release, The Recycling Partnership’s Aluminum Recycling Initiative awarded grants to GreenWaste in San Jose, Calif.; Pioneer Recycling in Tacoma, Wash.; RDS in Portsmouth, Va.; and Recycling Works in Elkhart, Ind. Across the four MRFs, an estimated additional 1 million pounds of aluminum will be recycled each year. The Aluminum Recycling Initiative has received support from the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), Alcoa Foundation and Arconic Foundation, with additional support from Cox Enterprises. To apply for a grant, click here

Oct. 9, 2023: The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) has received a U.S. EPA grant to further its work supporting the diversion of construction and demolition (C&D) debris in rural New Hampshire. According to a press release, NRRA received a 2023 Health Communities Grant from EPA Region 1, which covers New England. The award comes after NRRA received a EPA Region 1 grant last year to study current C&D disposal and recycling conditions in Coös County, N.H. Using those funds, NRRA held meetings and site visits, launched a pilot project and completed an audit. The project generated data on the amount of C&D currently being disposed of in landfill. For example, 162 million pounds of C&D debris were sent to the Mount Carberry Landfill in Coös County in 2021, over twice the amount of food scraps sent there, the release notes.

Sept. 28, 2023: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) awarded nearly $5.2 million in recycling, composting and waste reduction grants to 283 local governments. According to a press release, funds were awarded in several categories, including startup incentives for pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) programs, mattress collection containers, carts for food scrap collection, equipment for collecting mercury-bearing items, and more. The top 5 awards went to the town of Arlington to establish PAYT collections ($300,000 grant), to the town of Marshfield for PAYT ($293,000), to the town of Attleborough for PAYT ($267,000), to the South Shore Recycling Cooperative to establish a permanent regional household hazardous waste collection facility ($250,000) and to the town of Westborough for PAYT ($150,000), according to an awards summary sheet.

Sept. 21, 2023: The U.S. EPA has $4.6 billion available to fund projects to reduce climate pollution and measures that address waste and materials management are within the scope. The EPA is providing the grants through two programs, one general competition and another specifically for tribes and territories. The money will go to support measures in public climate action plans, including waste management actions, according to an EPA email. The deadline to apply for the general competition is April 1, 2024, and the deadline for the tribal/territorial-specific competition is May 1, 2024. A series of one-hour informational webinars will be held before the deadlines. One will be held at 3 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 3 for the general competition. And informational webinars for the competition for tribes and territories will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 27 and 1 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 5. Both sessions will have the same content.

Sept. 20, 2023: The NextCycle Michigan program is accepting applications from teams in a couple of different programs. The first is the Recycing Innovation and Technology (RIT) program, through which teams create novel material recovery or sorting technologies, recycled content products, waste minimization techniques, new uses for recycled or organic materials, or other innovations in sustainable materials management, according to an announcement. The deadline to apply is Oct. 27, 2023. The second is the Foods, Liquids, & Organic Waste Systems (FLOWS) Accelerator Track, which seeks teams with projects focused on organics recovery. The deadline to apply is also Oct. 27, 2023.

Sept. 14, 2023: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has opened applications for multiple grant programs. First, the DEQ’s Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) is accepting applications for the 2024 round of Recycling Business Development Grants. This program provides up to $40,000 (up to $60,000 for priority projects) to businesses that increase or improve collection, processing or end use of recyclables. For this round, the priority areas are MRF upgrades and recycling of paper, textiles, solar panels, electric vehicle batteries and lithium-ion batteries, according to the RBAC newsletter. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 16. 

Additionally, RBAC announced that applications are open for 2024 Food Waste Reduction Grants, which provide local governments, nonprofits and businesses up to $40,000 (again, it’s up to $60,000 for priority projects) to reduce the amount of wasted food disposed of in landfills. The department is prioritizing proposals that expand food donation networks and boost in-state composting infrastructure. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 25. 

Finally, DEQ is taking submissions for its Multifamily Recycling Grant Program, which provides money to either start or expand multifamily housing recycling programs. The money is available to local governments, recycling businesses, nonprofits, multifamily property owners or management companies, public housing authorities, and colleges and universities for off-campus housing, the newsletter states. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Sept. 13, 2023: The U.S. EPA announced the award of over $100 million in grants to local community recycling programs and state/territorial agencies. In a press release, the agency said it approved $73 million for 25 communities under the newly created Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) program for communities. Separately, the EPA awarded $32 million to states and territories under the SWIFR program for states and territories. That money will support solid waste management planning, data collection and implementation of plans. Together, the program funding amounts to the largest federal investment in the nation’s recycling programs in three decades, according to the EPA. The funds for the programs were included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. “EPA has selected these entities to receive funding for recycling infrastructure projects and anticipates making all the awards announced today once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied,” according to the press release. 

Sept. 12, 2023: Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is sponsoring a challenge that will fund reusable alternatives to single-use plastics. The competition aims to identify innovations that overcome barriers to implementing and expanding reusable packaging systems. The competition will involve two phases: The first will provide three projects with up to 150,000 Canadian dollars for projects lasting up to six months. In the second phase, one of those projects will receive up to 1 million Canadian dollars for an additional effort lasting up to a year. For-profit small businesses based in Canada may apply. The deadline to apply is Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Sept. 12, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) awarded a $38,800 grant to ABQ Foam Recycling/The Foam Recycler, a polystyrene foam recycling service in central New Mexico. The money will help fund the purchase and installation of a foam densifier, which will enable drop-off foam recycling service in the Albuquerque area. The Foam Recycler is the 32nd grant recipient to receive FRC funding since 2015. To apply for a grant, click here.

Aug. 30, 2023: Leaders in Austin, Texas held a pitch competition for circular economy-related startup businesses. The winner was a pet food producer, and the second-place finisher was a company that reuses wood from pallets and cushions from textiles. The Circular Austin Showcase, a pitch competition focused on reuse and zero waste businesses, is a partnership of Austin Resource Recovery (the city’s recycling department), the city’s Economic Development Department and the Austin Young Chamber. This year, eight companies presented on Aug. 29 in front of a panel of judges for a chance to win cash and the opportunity to meet potential investors, according to a press release. They focused on reusable diapers, lithium-ion battery refurbishment, reusing materials from pallets and more. According to a release, the winner was The Conscious Pet, which received $12,000, and the second-place finisher was Heartening, which plans to create a line of patio furniture made from wooden pallets and recycled textile cushions.

Aug. 30, 2023: New Hampshire the Beautiful awarded recycling grants to three towns in New Hampshire to help them improve their recyclables handling. The nonprofit organization approved a $2,330 grant to the town of Rye to buy a vertical baler to bale UBCs; a $2,480 grant to the town of Fitzwilliam to purchase storage containers and a self-dumping glass hopper; and a $5,000 grant to the town of Goffstown to buy a single-stream recyclables compactor to replace an old one.

Aug. 9, 2023: The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) awarded the city of Columbus $35,000 to establish three new food scraps drop-off sites and will help a village buy carts for residents. According to a press release, Columbus’ new food scraps drop-off locations accept items such as meat, fish and small bones, dairy products, pasta, fruits and vegetables, paper towels and soiled napkins. SWACO will also help the village of Brice buy 65-gallon carts for its residents. Through SWACO’s Community Cart Grant program, local programs typically receive a 50% or greater reduction in the price of the carts, the release notes.

Aug. 7, 2023: The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $4 million, four-year grant to the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) for a research project called ASPIRE, which stands for Advancing Social and Environmental Equity through Plastics Research: Education, Innovation, and Inclusion. The research team, led by polymer Professor Dr. Zhe Qiang, will study the health impacts of microplastics and design new materials for addressing plastic recycling challenges, a university press release states. “The aim is to develop a regional hub of plastic-climate-health research with particular focuses on promoting environmental and social equity and workforce diversity,” according to the release. 

Aug. 4, 2023: The state of Minnesota has awarded an aluminum recycling company nearly $1.2 million in grants to help it expand its facility and install additional recycling equipment. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development awarded Spectro Alloys a $750,000 Job Creation Fund (JCF) grant and a $400,000 Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) grant, according to a press release. The JCF provided companies up to $2 million for creating or retaining high-paying jobs and for building facilities and making other property improvements. The MIF program provides financing to add new employees and retain jobs, with a focus on industrial, manufacturing and tech-related industries to increase the tax base – these funds flow through local governments. In this case, Spectro Alloys is expanding its current facility in Rosemount, Minn. by adding 90,000 square feet, and it is installing new equipment to recycle various types of scrap aluminum, including used beverage cans (UBCs), into intermediate products that will be further processed by extruders and sheet rolling mills. The total project cost is estimated at $76.8 million.

Aug. 2, 2023: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) awarded solid waste reduction grants totaling $333,000 to 14 different local governments and nonprofit organizations. The funding is used to support recycling, source reduction, waste minimization and public education programs, according to a press release. Funding comes from a fee of $1 per ton of solid waste disposed of in the state. In this round, funded projects include those supporting composting, collection and storage, education and outreach, and more.

Aug. 1, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition has provided a $50,000 grant to help purchase a foam polystyrene densifier in the city of High Point, N.C. According to a press release, the equipment will enable the city’s 117,000 residents to recycle foam PS cups, plates, bowls, clamshells, egg cartons and meat trays, as well as block foam packaging.

July 31, 2023: The Ohio EPA has awarded $6.3 million in grants to support recycling, litter prevention, market development and scrap tire recycling programs in the state. The agency, which highlights grant awards by region, provided $1.3 million to southwest Ohio organizations, $1.3 million to central Ohio organizations, $2 million to northeast Ohio organizations, $1.4 million to northwest Ohio organizations and $177,000 to southeast Ohio organizations. Statewide, the funds went to local governments, for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations, with a total of 99 recipients. The top 10 awards were as follows: $300,000 to Liberty Tire Services of Ohio to purchase scrap tire processing equipment; $300,000 to the city of Fairview Park to use scrap tires for civil engineering or construction projects; $300,000 to Fleck Manufacturing to buy tire processing equipment; $200,000 to Rumpke Waste and Recycling to upgrade equipment at the company’s MRF; $200,000 to RAP Management to purchase recycling equipment; $200,000 to Avon Lake to buy a new compost turner; $200,000 to Cleveland Heights to support curbside recycling; $200,000 to Mayfield to support curbside recycling; $200,000 to Barnes Nursery Inc. to buy recycling equipment; and $200,000 to De Ruijter International USA to buy recycling equipment.

July 21, 2023: The U.S. Department of Energy announced $20 million is available to improve solal panel production, installation, recycling and reuse. The program, which includes $8 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is called the Materials, Operation, and Recycling of Photovoltaics (MORE PV) funding opportunity. The money will go toward R&D projects that reduce materials used in solar panels, improve installation quality and resilience, and streamline the reuse and recyclability of solar panels, according to a press release. The money will also set up a Solar Partnership to Advance Recycling and Circularity to improve materials recovery and develop safe end-of-life practices for photovoltaic (PV) system components, the release notes. Higher education institutions, for-profit companies, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and tribal entities can all apply. An informational webinar will be held at 1 p.m. Eastern on July 26. Applicants must submit a letter of intent by Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. Eastern and a concept paper by Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. Eastern. MORE PV builds on an energy department five-year action plan published last year

July 20, 2023: The EPA is accepting applications for grants through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Providing funding to small businesses, the SBIR program this year will target technologies that help consumers prevent food waste, tech that improves the U.S. recycling system, and material reduction and reuse solutions that lower embodied carbon in the built environment, in addition to other non-circular-economy-related topics. An informational webinar was held in June, and slides are available here. Applications are due Aug. 23. 

July 13, 2023: The Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2) has issued a nationwide call for applications for its metals innovation competition, which includes metals recycling. MI2 is a Kentucky-based nonprofit that promotes research, sustainability, commercialization and talent development in Kentucky’s metals industry. Its leaders hail from such notable metals recycling companies as Wieland North America, Logan Aluminum, Novelis, Tri-Arrows Aluminum and River Metals Recycling. The recently announced competition applies to innovations in environmental sustainability, including in recycling, advanced manufacturing, workforce development and other metals-related projects, according to a press release. Individuals, research institutions, startups and established companies can all apply. Winners will have the opportunity to present at the inaugural MI2 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky. in September, giving them the chance to potentially secure an investment and pilot project with an MI2-affiliated company. Applications are due Aug. 15.

July 12, 2023: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched a prize competition to support the development of technologies to recycle plastics and rare earth elements from wind turbines. The $5.1 million competition, which is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), focuses on recycling of fiber-reinforced composites and rare earth elements. The competition is broken up into two parts. The first, the “Initiate” phase, will provide up to 20 winners with $75,000 each, and the second, the “Accelerate” phase, will provide up to six teams with cash prizes of $500,000 and vouchers to work with the DOE national laboratories valued at $100,000. An informational webinar will be held at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 3. The deadline to apply is Sept. 29.

June 29, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) provided a $50,000 grant to drop-off polystyrene foam recycling in Cook County, Ill. The money will help pay for a foam densifier at the newly opened Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) in South Holland on the South Suburban College campus, according to a press release. 

June 20, 2023: With the reinstatement of the state’s recycling grants funding, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is seeking applications for stakeholders interested in serving on the Arizona Recycling Advisory Committee (ARAC), which will help distribute the funds. According to a press release, nine people will be appointed to the ARAC to assist the ADEQ director in administering recycling funds, awarding grants and promoting recycling throughout the state. The state is encouraging applications from people from private solid waste collection and recycling businesses, municipalities with recycling programs, and members of the public with an interest and knowledge in recycling. The deadline for nominations is July 14, 2023.

June 14, 2023: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded $111,000 in waste diversion grants to three projects. According to a press release, the department awarded $32,000 to the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District to expand a regional food scrap collection and composting program; $39,000 to Information Technology Exchange to extend the life of old computers; and $40,000 to the town of Carthage to construct a new building to collect and recycle oil, textiles, used paint and universal waste, as well as to house a new ‘swap shop’ for other usable goods. Maine DEP expects to open its second round of funding proposals in early August 2023. 

June 12, 2023: The U.S. Department of Energy is making $192 million available for battery recycling advancements and the launch of a battery research and development consortium.  A press release stated the funding for consumer electronics battery recycling, reprocessing and collection comes out to about $125 million. Up to $60 million is earmarked for an advanced battery R&D consortium, and the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize, which kicked off in 2019, is getting an infusion of $7.4 million. June 13, 2023: The town of Branford, Conn. will receive a $140,000 grant from the Every Bottle Back initiative to fund 96-gallon curbside carts for residents. According to a press release, the town will replace small curbside bins with large carts for about 28,000 residents. An initiative of American Beverage, Every Bottle Back is run with administrative assistance from The Recycling Partnership. The Branford announcement was made the day after Every Bottle Back announced a grant to Villa Park, Ill. (see item below). 

June 12, 2023: American Beverage and The Recycling Partnership announced that Villa Park, Ill. will receive a $97,500 grant to purchase 65-gallon carts for residents. The money, which was awarded through the Every Bottle Back initiative, will allow the village to provide the carts free of charge to about 22,000 residents. According to a press release, to date, Every Bottle Back has committed $22 million to improving curbside bottle and can recycling around the country.

June 8, 2023: The H&M Foundation has awarded grants of $216,000 each to 10 startups working to reduce textiles waste, including U.S. companies involved in recycling. The foundation’s Global Change Award winners for 2023 are each receiving a portion of $2.16 million total, according to a press release. The categories include efforts to develop new materials, redesign textiles and recycle end-of-life textiles. In the recycling category, the winners were U.S. companies Refiberd and Tereform, as well as U.K. company DyeRecycle. The Global Change Award is an annual early-stage innovation challenge. This year, H&M Foundation awarded double the amount of money in order to double the number of recipients compared to the prior year.

May 30, 2023: British Columbia is putting another 25 million Canadian dollars ($18.4 million; all dollars below converted to U.S. on May 31) into the Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund, which supports efforts to remove and recycle marine debris. Of that amount, $3 million will go to the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, and the remaining $15.4 million will be awarded to applicants through a merit-based assessment process, according to a press release from the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The merit-based grants will be distributed in two rounds, spring 2023 and early 2024. The application period for the spring 2023 round has already ended, and winners will be notified in June whether they won. To date, projects funded through the Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund have removed 1,500 metric tons of marine debris from 4,600 kilometers of shoreline. About 64% of that material, by weight, has been recycled. Recyclable materials are sent to the Ocean Legacy Foundation, which recycles plastics into pellets for use in a variety of products. The Ocean Legacy Foundation recently received a grant from a different B.C. program called the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund.

May 24, 2023: The NextCycle Colorado program announced that the top prize in its May 16 pitch competition went to a company that converts post-harvest marijuana waste into bricks that can be processed into biochar, which is added to soil. The winner of the 2023 pitch competition was BioChar Green, which will receive a $5,000 cash prize from Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) and will meet with Closed Loop Partners and the Colorado Impact Fund to discuss business opportunities. The People’s Choice Award went to Mile High Workshop, which recycles vinyl billboards into reusable bags. Funding for Colorado NextCycle is provided through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity program. Technical support and program management is provided by RRS.

May 19, 2023: U.S. EPA Region 3 has $150,000 available for sustainable materials management grants in the mid-Atlantic region. The funding opportunity focuses on development of municipal recycling and composting/anaerobic digestion programs, according to the EPA. Applications are due by July 14, 2023. Additionally, the EPA announced it will hold a webinar to cover this year’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program, which will begin taking applications in June. The webinar, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern on June 6, will cover this year’s topic and proposal requirements. 

May 18, 2023: The NextCycle Washington program awarded over $400,000 in seed grants to waste prevention, product repair/reuse and recycling/composting projects throughout the Evergreen State. According to a press release, the program provided up to $10,000 to each winner, along with technical support and growth planning for early stage projects. The money comes from King County’s Solid Waste Division, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Washington Department of Commerce. In April, NextCycle Washington announced winners of the program’s inaugural pitch competition (see April 13 entry below). 

May 17, 2023: The Vinyl Institute (VI) announced it has awarded a total of $460,000 in VIABILITY PVC recycling grants to six organizations. The recipients of the grants, which support post-consumer PVC recycling, were the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association, Every Shelter, Kelly Green Board, Norwich Plastics and Rochester Regional Health Systems, Oregon State University, and the Vinyl Siding Institute. A press release notes this was the first round of grants for the VIABILITY program, which launched in January of 2023. Applications for the next round are due July 17, 2023.

May 17, 2023: The Vinyl Institute (VI) announced it has awarded a total of $460,000 in VIABILITY PVC recycling grants to six organizations. The recipients of the grants, which support post-consumer PVC recycling, were the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association, Every Shelter, Kelly Green Board, Norwich Plastics and Rochester Regional Health Systems, Oregon State University and the Vinyl Siding Institute. A press release notes this was the first round of grants for the VIABILITY program, which launched in January of 2023. Applications for the next round are due July 17, 2023.

May 17, 2023: The Glass Recycling Foundation (GRF) is accepting applications for grants to help fund glass collection, sorting and public education projects. According to a press release, nonprofits, municipal governments, public waste management districts, glass collectors, MRFs, glass beneficiaries and manufacturers are eligible to apply for grants. The deadline to apply for this round of grants is July 7, 2023. GRF also recently published its 2022 Impact Report, which noted that the foundation provided $200,000 in grants that supported projects diverting about 1.2 million pounds of glass from landfills. The grants were funded by the Anheuser-Busch Foundation, Corona, the Glass Packaging Institute and Diageo.

May 15, 2023: A Washington state-based waste-reduction startup competition has selected its prize winners for its second-annual competition. The PreCycle Innovation Challenge, which is hosted by Seattle Good Business Network and Zero Waste Washington, awarded prizes of $2,000, $4,000, $10,000 or $14,000 to a half a dozen waste-reduction efforts. The business accelerator initially had 36 startup teams competing from around the Pacific Northwest. The final pitch competition was held in conjunction with the Circular Innovation Summit on May 15, a press release noted. The competition and summit were partly funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Commerce, Impact WA, WorkTank, Port of Seattle, Seattle Public Utilities, King County Solid Waste Division, Washington Recycling Development Center, and the Washington State Microenterprise Association.

May 10, 2023: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is accepting applications for Recycling Market Development Program grants. Eligible candidates can seek grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, according to a press release. Those candidates include public and private businesses, local governments and solid waste management districts, and nonprofits. The deadline to apply is June 21, 2023.

May 9, 2023: The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) awarded over $570,000 to launch food scrap programs in several municipalities. The money, which is flowing through the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant program, will allow Bethel, Bethlehem, Middlebury and Kent to join 15 other municipalities that are already implementing pilot residential food scrap collection programs. Residents in the communities are instructed to separate their food scraps and drop them off at transfer stations. According to a DEEP press release, participating communities have had success in diverting materials from disposal so far. For example, the Woodbury and Deep River Transfer Station programs are capturing an estimated 35% of the available food scraps from the waste stream. 

May 1, 2023: Consultants working for the Oregon of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are holding a series of listening sessions to inform how DEQ could restructure its Materials Management Grant Program. DEQ has put the grants program on pause while it works to build an equity-focused strategic plan, with the goal of streamlining the grant process and establishing funding priorities that better align with the DEQ’s 2050 Vision and Framework for Action, according to a DEQ email. Start Consulting will hold 90-minute listening sessions with past and future grant applicants and other interested parties. The sessions are scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 17, 4 p.m. on May 18 and 12:30 p.m. on May 30 (all times Pacific). Sign up to attend here.

May 1, 2023: Recycling, beverage and plastics industry stakeholders are working together to provide residential collection carts to Kansas City, Mo. The city, The Recycling Partnership, the Missouri Beverage Association, American Beverage and Dow are all participating in a collaborative project valued at about $1.5 million. According to a press release, Dow donated some of the resin needed to make the carts, The Recycling Partnership provided technical support, and funding came in part from American Beverage’s Every Bottle Back initiative and the Missouri Beverage Association. Separately, according to a press release from American Beverage, Closed Loop Partners, American Beverage and the Missouri Beverage Association are providing another $1.5 million to boost the city’s recycling infrastructure. Kansas City currently uses an opt-in system that requires residents to buy their own bins, which can’t be any larger than 32 gallons. The project is working to deploy 162,000 carts – each holding 65 gallons – to residents by August.

April 21, 2023: The CleanBC Plastics Action Fund awarded over 8 million Canadian dollars (nearly $5.9 million) in grants for 14 projects in British Columbia. The far western Canadian province provided funding for projects to reduce plastic waste through reuse, increase use of post-consumer resin (PCR), and more. This was the second round of grants from the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund. In 2021, the program awarded nearly 5 million Canadian dollars to nine projects. British Columbia leaders have committed another 25 million Canadian dollars to a third round of funding, according to a press release.

April 17, 2023: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) awarded $15.6 million in grants to help build an advanced MRF, purchase recycling carts, develop a recycling business park, and more. A press release noted that the 2023 sum is the largest-ever state investment in recycling infrastructure and technology, coming in at more than double the dollar value of grants awarded last year. A few of the larger awards called out in the press release are as follows: $465,000 to Waste Management (WM) to contribute toward building a $35 million, high-tech MRF in Detroit; $1 million to the city of Flint to help buy 96-gallon carts for 34,000 households (The Recycling Partnership is also providing a grant of up to $3.3 million for this effort); and $4 million to the Kent County Department of Public Works to help build out infrastructure to serve a 250-acre Sustainable Business Park. A full list of grant recipients is available here.

April 14, 2023: The Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) will begin accepting pre-proposals for grants starting on Monday, April 17. EREF’s research grant program is one of the largest sources of funding for solid waste research in North America, according to a press release. Upon submission, pre-proposals will be examined by a selection committee, with successful proposals invited to submit a full proposal for consideration. The deadline to submit pre-proposals is May 8. 

April 14, 2023: The Every Bottle Back initiative provided a $91,200 grant to the Borough of Avalon, N.J. to help it switch to a single-stream collection program with larger containers and to provide education and outreach. Avalon is switching residents from 32-gallon bins to 96-gallon carts. The grant funding, which flows through The Recycling Partnership, comes from beverage brand owners The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. The grant will also help support education and outreach for residents as the borough switches collection methods, a press release noted.

April 13, 2023: The NextCycle Washington program awarded $26,000 to organizations that are recycling fire hoses and textiles and composting food scraps. The Pacific Northwest program, which kicked off last year, announced the results of the program’s inaugural Pitch Showcase. A total of 14 teams participated in the event, which was held March 23 at the University of Washington. Those teams had already received months of business and technical support, mentoring and planning to accelerate their projects, according to a press release. In the end, the award winners were the Refugee Artisan Initiative, which received $11,750; Ravel, which won $10,000; and Restaurant 2 Garden, which was awarded $5,000. The Refugee Artisan Initiative recycles U.S. Forest Service fire hoses while providing jobs for refugee women, Ravel is commercializing a technology for recycling textile fibers, and Restaurant 2 Garden is creating a restaurant food scraps composting operation in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. 

April 11, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) has awarded a $50,000 grant to help enable drop-off polystyrene foam recycling in the village of Mount Prospect, Ill. According to a press release, the money helped purchase a foam densifier at the Mount Prospect Public Works facility. The foam ingots produced there are sold to local end markets for recycling into architectural molding and picture frames. FRC is accepting applications for grants through April 25.

April 10, 2023: Colorado’s Front Range Waste Diversion Enterprise will make available up to $5 million in grants for businesses, nonprofits and local governments working on waste diversion projects. The Front Rage Waste Diversion (FRWD) grants can go toward supporting recycling of curbside recyclables, organics and C&D debris. Projects are limited to Colorado’s Front Range region, defined as Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo, Teller, and Weld counties and/or the cities and counties of Broomfield and Denver. Grant applications will be available at the end of April, with a due date of June 14, 2023. In the meantime, a grant overview and Q&A session has been scheduled for noon Mountain time on April 21.

March 24, 2023: The U.S. EPA will hold a webinar to help people submit the strongest possible applications for EPA grants. The Grants Competition Process webinar, to be held from 2-3 p.m. Eastern time on March 28, will provide the opportunity for potential EPA grant applicants to ask questions about how they can prepare the most competitive applications. Prior registration is required.

March 24, 2023: The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced up to $9.5 million is available for compost and food waste reduction projects during the 2023 fiscal year. The money is provided through cooperative agreements with the agency. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2023.

March 17, 2023: The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is accepting applications for a portion of $800,000 it has available to support recycling and illegal dumpsite and scrap tire cleanups. Municipalities, tribes, counties and other entities can apply for funding from the Recycling and Illegal Dumping (RAID) Fund. A press release notes that $800,000 is available for the 2024 fiscal year, with two-thirds of that dedicated to tire management and abatement projects and one-third earmarked for recycling projects and illegal dumpsite cleanups. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Mountain time on March 31. 

March 15, 2023: The Ohio EPA will award three grants totaling $180,000 to solid waste management districts, with the goal of boosting drop-off recycling program education and participation. According to a press release, the funding will benefit programs in the Athens-Hocking, Mahoning, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Seneca County solid waste management districts (SWMDs). For the project, the Ohio EPA is working with The Recycling Partnership, which will provide education and outreach tools. Other funding for the effort came from garbage and recycling companies Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Waste Management (WM), which contributed a combined $50,000, and from the participating SWMDs, which pitched in over $60,000 in matching funds.

March 14, 2023: The Foam Recycling Coalition is accepting applications for grants to expand community recycling program access to foam polystyrene recycling. Grants of up to $50,000 are available to public and private organizations that operate a MRF, manage a residential curbside program or manage a drop-off recycling program. Applications will be accepted through April 25, 2023.

March 8, 2023: The U.S. Department of Energy is making available $6 billion in funding to reduce carbon emissions generated in the manufacturing of steel, aluminum, glass and other materials. The money, which was provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, will go toward projects to build or upgrade manufacturing facilities. Among other possible projects, the energy department’s funding announcement pointed to projects that allow steel, aluminum and glass factories to use more recycled feedstock. The deadline to submit concept papers is 5 p.m. Eastern on April 21.

March 2, 2023: Organics processing company Anaergia has received a grant from the Canadian government valued at 1.7 million Canadian dollars (about $1.25 million U.S.). According to a press release, the money was part of a larger investment in Ontario under the federal Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program. The money will help Anaergia advance technologies for anaerobically digesting source-separated organics and produce energy and fertilizer for use on farms. 

Feb. 23, 2023: The REMADE Institute is seeking applications to fund its next round of recycling, reuse and remanufacturing R&D projects. The federally funded institute will provide $10 million in public funds and $10 million in matching funds from partners in the selected projects. Founded in 2017, REMADE is a public-private partnership funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with an initial investment of $140 million. REMADE stands for “Reducing EMbodied Energy And Decreasing Emissions.” This latest announcement is REMADE’s sixth request for proposals. An information session is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27, followed by teaming sessions on March 8 and 9. Letters of intent are due March 27, and the full applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on April 26. 

Feb. 22, 2023: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s (FPI) Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) gave a $50,000 grant to Mecklenburg County, N.C., to help add polystyrene foam recycling to the local recycling program. According to a press release, the money helped buy a foam densifier at one of the county’s four recyclables collection centers. The addition will allow Mecklenburg County to begin accepting post-consumer foam packaging at its four full-service recycling centers. The release notes that the PS ingots produced by the densifier will be shipped to manufacturers of architectural moldings and picture frames. 

Feb. 21, 2023: Giant petrochemicals companies provided a $300,000 grant to the Houston Unified School District to help kickstart a recycling program that will recover scrap plastics for recycling. According to a school district press release, the funding was provided by ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell and Tricon Energy, with each company chipping in $100,000. The program, scheduled to begin in April, will initially start at 20 schools and will collect OCC, paper and plastics, including difficult-to-recycle plastics such as chip bags and takeout containers. The collection will be coordinated by the 10 to 90 program, which is run by Cyclyx International, a joint-venture focused on sourcing scrap plastic for both mechanical and chemical recycling. The Defender quoted an ExxonMobil exec highlighting the company’s recently completed Baytown, Texas chemical recycling unit, which can process 80 million pounds of recovered plastic a year.

Feb. 15, 2023: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) awarded over $950,000 in Recycling and Reuse Business Development Grants. Dedicated to supporting recycling of difficult-to-recycle materials, the money will flow to six companies, and will support the diversion of C&D debris, glass, mattresses, textiles and furniture, a MassDEP press release states. The grants will be distributed as follows: 887 Woburn LLC ($150,000 grant), which will install sorting equipment to recover C&D debris; Aero Aggregates of Massachusetts ($200,000), which will develop a facility to recycle container glass into a foamed glass aggregate used in construction; HandUp US ($192,900), which will dismantle and recover scrap metals from mattresses and box springs; HELPSY ($145,000), which will sort textiles and either resell clothes or ship them to downstream recyclers; Wachusett Earthday ($80,443), which will reuse and dismantle/repurporse furniture; and Windward Trading Group ($184,000), which will bale and sell used textiles.

Feb. 13, 2023: The government of Alberta awarded 58 million Canadian dollars (about $43 million U.S.) in grants to projects that will divert various materials from landfill. According to a press release, the money is flowing through the province’s Emissions Reduction Alberta program and comes from the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund. The funded projects tackle a variety of different materials, including asphalt roof shingles, organics from farms, tires and polyethylene scrap.

Feb. 9, 2023: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is accepting applications for grant funding to divert organics from landfills. A total of $155 million is available, divided as follows: $57 million for anaerobic digestion/co-digestion projects, $78 million for composting projects, $15 million for standalone pre-processing projects and $5 million for in-vessel composting projects. Public agencies (including tribal governments), private for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations can all apply. Funding for the Organics Grant Program comes from greenhouse gas cap-and-trade dollars, according to CalRecycle, and the funding is intended to reduce GHG emissions from organics in landfills. A question-and-answer period ends March 23, followed by an application deadline of April 20.

Feb. 7, 2023: The Carton Council is accepting applications for grants through its 2023 Community Education Award program, which helps pay for recycling education and outreach. The program, which is open to any U.S. community recycling programs that accept food and beverage cartons, provides up to $5,000 each for education efforts. Interested entities must sign up by Earth Day, April 22, and the program is limited to 25 participants.

Feb. 6, 2023: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is seeking applications for grants to help fund waste diversion projects. DEP is looking for projects that help create, implement or enhance those initiatives, programs or projects that divert solid waste from disposal, according to a press release. Municipalities, regional associations and businesses can apply for grants between $1,000 and $40,000. During the previous round of funding, in fall 2022, DEP awarded a total of $100,000 to five waste-diversion projects. Applications for the next round of grants are due by 4:00 p.m. Eastern time March 7, 2023.

Feb. 2, 2023: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $9.4 million to support composting and food waste reduction projects around the country. The department has signed Compost and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements to fund 45 projects between 2023 and 2025, according to a press release. The recipients, which include local governments, tribal governments and school districts, are located in 27 states and one territory. The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, a COVID-19 relief and economic support bill.

Feb. 1, 2023: A company connected to the University of Virginia (UVA) has awarded nearly $1.4 million in grants for various projects, including two connected to reuse and recycling. According to a press release, the Jefferson Trust’s key theme with its grants this year was sustainability. The organization awarded $30,000 to Printers 4 Kids, a project to reuse discarded electronics equipment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) kits for local Charlottesville, Va. students. Printers 4 Kids is also working to establish UVA’s first plastics recycling center. The trust also provided $26,000 to the Codesigning Circular Plastics Initiative, which will recycle plastics, including films, into outdoor and indoor furniture. The Jefferson Trust is a limited liability company connected to the UVA Alumni Association.

Jan. 26, 2023: The Recycling Partnership’s PET Recycling Coalition awarded its first three grants, to PET reclaimer DAK Americas, recycled-content thermoforms producer Direct Pack and MRF operator Recycle Source. According to a press release, global plastics producer DAK Americas will use the money to help pay for a robotic sorting system at its PET recycling plant in Richmond, Ind., Direct Pack Recycling will use the money to help build a new PET recycling operation in Mexicali, Mexico, and Recycle Source will use the money to upgrade its automated sorting technology at its Pittsburgh MRF. The PET Recycling Coalition launched a year ago to provide funding to boost PET recycling in the U.S. The next deadline to apply for PET Recycling Coalition grants is April 30, 2023. That would be for the third round of funding.

Jan. 24, 2023: The U.S. EPA has awarded two grants to support organics diversion efforts in California. The agency provided $169,000 to Monterey One Water to evaluate equipping anaerobic digesters at its wastewater treatment facility, which would allow the company to process sewage sludge and food as well as other organic wastes, according to a press release. EPA also awarded $200,000 to the Yurok Tribe to establish a pilot anaerobic digester to divert food scraps from landfill. The latter project also involves using the digestate and biogas produced to grow food.

Jan. 24, 2023: The University of North Carolina Wilmington received a $9,627 grant from the Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) to buy containers to collect polystyrene foam. According to a press release, the university will also receive a donated densifier to allow its recycling program to accept expanded polystyrene.  

Jan. 23, 2023: The city of LaSalle, Ill. will receive $55,500 from the beverage industry to help fund a multi-million-dollar project to provide free 96-gallon recycling carts to residents. In a press release, American Beverage said the money, which is being provided through the Every Bottle Back initiative, will be combined with $4.5 million in city matching funds for the project.

Jan. 18, 2023: A trade association for the vinyl industry announced a grant program to support the recycling of post-consumer PVC scrap. The Vinyl Institute (VI) said the new program, called VIABILITY, will provide up to $1 million total each year over the next three years, with funding from four U.S. PVC manufacturers: Formosa, Oxy, Shintech and Westlake. Grants of up to $500,000 each may be awarded to trade associations, MRFs, C&D debris sorting plants, other recycling companies or academic institutions, a press release noted. Applications for the first round of grants are due on March 1, 2023. 

Jan. 18, 2023: The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) awarded nearly $2 million in recycling grants through the department’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP) program. According to a press release, the money was provided to 29 recipients, which include solid waste authorities, local governments, private industries and nonprofit groups. Funding for the program comes from a $1-per-ton fee on garbage tipped at landfills.

Jan. 18 2023: Metro, a regional government entity in the Portland, Ore. area, is accepting applications for grants to support recycling infrastructure, reuse/repair, food waste prevention and rescue, and more. Metro offers program grants of up to $100,000 and capital grants up to $500,000. Private businesses, nonprofits and educational institutions can all apply for the Investment and Innovation (I&I) grants. The deadline to submit a pre-proposal application is 5 p.m. Pacific time on Feb. 23, 2023.

Jan. 5, 2023: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is accepting applications for grants to support collection of electronic scrap materials in 2023 or early 2024. The department plans to award up to $50,000 total, with individual grants totaling between $1,000 and $5,000 (for collection events) and $1,000 and $10,000 (for permanent collection sites). The application deadline is 5 p.m. Central time on Feb. 17. 

Jan. 4, 2023: The EPA is accepting applications for portions of $40 million available for tribes and inter-tribal groups to improve recycling infrastructure. The agency published a request for applications for funding opportunities under the new Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program, which is funded by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. SWIFR has different pots of money dedicated to different types of governmental bodies. The EPA has already asked for applications from states and territories for a piece of $40 million and from local governments for a piece of $30 million. This latest announcement of $40 million is specifically for tribes and intertribal consortia, according to a press release. Applications, which must be submitted through grants.gov, are due by April 4, 2023.

Jan. 4, 2023: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) awarded nearly $514,000 in recycling grants to 16 applicants, which include cities, solid waste districts and nonprofit groups. According to an IDEM press release, the three largest grants went to Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, which got $96,600; nonprofit group Teachers’ Treasures, which received $93,137; and the city of Portage, which received $72,130. The money comes from a garbage disposal tip fee of 50 cents per ton. 

Dec. 29, 2022: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded $100,000 to four cities and a school district to support recycling and organics projects. The Waste Diversion Grants aims to increase composting and recycling opportunities. All five bids that DEP received were funded, according to the DEP. The department expects to open applications later this month for the first round of 2023 funding.

Dec. 21, 2022: The U.S. EPA awarded nearly $2.5 million in grants to 25 small businesses developing environmental-focused technologies, including those focused on improving recycling. The EPA said in a press release that the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 funds will help pay for proof-of-concept work for their proposed technologies. Among the 25 grant recipients were several recycling-related efforts: Athens, Ga.-based Can I Recycle This, which is developing a system to provide real-time, geospatial materials recovery information; Portland, Ore.-based City of Roses Disposal and Recycling, which is developing inventory aggregation and management software for C&D debris; Berkeley, Calif.-based Iterant, which is creating an online platform for regional plastic packaging reuse systems; San Francisco company Kamilo, which is developing a digital verification system to confirm the percentage of recycled content in plastic products; and Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Zabble, which is creating an AI-powered tagging platform for recycling contamination monitoring audits. SBIR Phase 1 grants are $100,000 each for companies to conduct early proof-of-concept work. If successful, the companies can apply for up to $400,000 in Phase 2 funds, which support further development and commercialization.

Dec. 19, 2022: The Waste Commission of Scott County, Iowa has received a grant and a multi-million-dollar loan to finance upgrades to its MRF. The beverage industry’s Every Bottle Back initiative awarded the municipality a $600,000 grant to fund equipment upgrades to its publicly owned MRF in Davenport, Iowa. American Beverage (formerly the American Beverage Association) announced that the money will go toward three new optical sorters. Separately, Closed Loop Partners provided a $5 million loan to the Waste Commission of Scott County to help fund the optical sorters. It’s the third loan the commission has taken out from the private investment organization. The Waste Commission of Scott County provides recyclables sorting and marketing services for about 75,000 households.

Dec. 16, 2022: The U.S. EPA has extended the deadline to apply through two grant programs the agency has created to boost recycling. The EPA extended until Feb. 15, 2023, the deadline to apply for the Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Grants program, which is designed to help states, territories, tribal and local governments, and other organizations fund projects to improve education and outreach on waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting. A total of $30 million is available through that program. 

Additionally, the EPA also extended until Feb. 15 the deadline to apply for through the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grants program for political subdivisions, a program meant to help local governments improve materials management and infrastructure for recovery, reuse, recycling, repair, refurbishment or composting of post-use materials. That program will have $30 million available. An EPA announcement said the decision to extend both deadlines by a month was made “after extensive stakeholder engagement and in response to numerous requests received in webinars and emails from interested parties.” 

A third new grant program, SWIFR for states and territories, which is funded at about $40 million, already had a deadline pass for states and territories to submit their notices of intent to participate. For that program, the EPA had earlier reached out to governors to notify them of the funding opportunity.

Dec. 16, 2022: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) provided a $49,000 grant to help Fayette County, Pa. install a foam densifier, allowing it to begin accepting foam polystyrene for recycling. According to a press release, the county, which includes over 128,000 residents, can now accept foam cups, plates, egg cartons, takeout clamshells and protective packaging such as the foam blocks that protect electronics and appliances inside boxes.

Dec. 13, 2022: The Recycling Partnership has given a $55,500 grant to the city of La Salle, Ill. to help fund the switch to larger recycling containers. The money comes as the city, which is about 90 miles southwest of Chicago, will switch its service provider from Republic Services to LRS (formerly Lakeshore Recycling Systems) effective Feb. 1, 2023, according to the NewsTribune. The publication noted the money will help offset costs increases coming with the switch in providers.

Dec. 8, 2022: California officials are proposing to allocate $81 million to local governments to help fund organics processing infrastructure. The money, which would be awarded through a competitive grant process, is intended to help jurisdictions comply with Senate Bill 1383, which mandates that local jurisdictions ensure their residents have access to organics collection services. The law will also require that local governments purchase compost products. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is proposing to earmark $81 million out of the $180 million in the fiscal year 2022-23 grant allocation to help jurisdictions implement SB 1383. The department is accepting public comments on the proposal, with a comment deadline of Dec. 15, 2022. Comments can be emailed to [email protected]. The request for approval will be presented at CalRecycle’s Dec. 20 public meeting.

Dec. 5, 2022: Bay City, Mich. will receive a grant through the beverage industry’s Every Bottle Back initiative, according to a press release. The money will allow the city to provide larger, 96-gallon curbside recycling carts to 15,000 households free of charge. Bay City is set to receive $240,000 from the beverage industry and nearly $1.2 million in community and state funds for the expansion of recycling service. Launched in 2019 by American Beverage (formerly the American Beverage Association), the Every Bottle Back initiative is a collaboration between The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. It is administered by The Recycling Partnership.

Nov. 23, 2022: Leaders in British Columbia are working to develop a Zero Waste Demonstration Site, and they want recycling technology startups to apply for space there. The city of Vancouver and the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) are seeking applications for innovators to pilot their zero waste solutions at the 1.1-acre site, a former recycling receiving yard located in Vancouver’s southern industrial lands. With a desire to find five to 10 companies for the site, administrators will accept applications for companies tackling organic materials such as food scraps or yard clippings; traditional paper, plastic, metal and glass curbside recyclables; electronic scrap; C&D debris; composite waste, such as textiles, bagged pet waste, furniture and more; residuals from industrial processes, such as biosolids, grit and bottom ash; and other waste. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2023.

Nov. 17, 2022: The REMADE Institute is offering up $1.2 million to help support training of U.S. workers who can accelerate the transition to a circular economy. According to a press release, the Rochester, N.Y.-based institute released its Education and Workforce Development Request for Proposals on Nov. 17. With this request, the institute is specifically seeking proposals in the areas of manufacturing materials optimization, remanufacturing, recycling and recovery, and design, according to the release. To provide more information about the RFP, an informational session with a Q&A has been scheduled for Dec. 1, 2022. Alongside the funding announcement, the REMADE Institute announced its latest Education and Workforce Development Roadmap. The REMADE Institute is a public-private partnership that was kick-started by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Nov. 16, 2022: The U.S. Department of Energy announced $74 million in grants provided to companies working to recycle and reuse electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The money, which was approved by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was awarded to 10 projects. In the areas of separating, sorting and recycling the following grants were awarded: $10 million to American Battery Technology Company of Reno, Nev.; $7.4 million to Cirba Solutions (formerly known as Retriev) of Indianapolis; $8.1 million to Michigan Technological University of Houghton, Mich.; $10 million to the University of California at San Diego; and $10 million to Princeton NuEnergy of Bordentown, N.J. In the areas of EV battery reuse, the following grants were awarded: $6 million to RePurpose Energy of Fairfield, Calif.; $4 million to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; $4.5 million to Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville; $7.9 million to Element Energy, Inc. in Menlo Park, Calif.; and $6 million to Smartville Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif.

Nov. 16, 2022: The government of Canada has announced a pair of grants to support recycling. In the first, announced Nov. 16, the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) organization awarded a 280,000 Canadian dollar ($210,000 U.S.) grant to Régie intermunicipale de traitement des matières résiduelles de la Gaspésie, or the Gaspésie Intermunicipal Residual Materials Treatment Board. The money will help the nonprofit organization upgrade its MRF with new sorting technology and redesign the facility’s workstations. On Nov. 17, on the other side of the country, the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan) awarded 1.04 million Canadian dollars ($780,000 U.S.) to the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, which will connect local businesses with the engineering expertise needed to divert industrial materials from landfill while also designing new products from bio-sourced materials, according to a press release.

Nov. 15, 2022: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection awarded $4.2 million to 270 municipalities and solid waste districts as part of the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP). According to a press release, the funds were awarded in several categories, including startup incentives for pay-as-you-throw programs, wheeled carts for curbside collection of recyclables and food scraps, drop-off equipment for recycling of mercury-bearing items, and other efforts. This year, a number of municipalities received extra funding in recognition of their environmental justice work, according to the release.  

Nov. 15, 2022: The U.S. EPA is holding a series of webinars to inform local governments and others about how they can apply for a piece of the hundreds of millions of dollars Congress has made available in recycling funding. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was approved by Congress and signed by President Biden last year, appropriates about $350 million to support various recycling-related efforts. The U.S. EPA has been gathering input from stakeholders on how to structure the grant programs. On Nov. 15, the agency announced that $100 million will be available through three programs: $30 million for Political Subdivisions Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants, $40 million for State and Territories Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants and $30 million for Recycling Education and Outreach Grants.

The Political Subdivisions Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants program is meant to help local governments improve materials management and infrastructure for recovery, reuse, recycling, repair, refurbishment or composting of post-use materials. Webinars providing information about this grant program begin Dec. 5. The deadline to apply for funding will be Jan. 16, 2023. 

The State and Territories Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants program is meant to help states, territories and the District of Columbia improve solid waste management planning, data collection and program implementation. Webinars providing information about this program begin Nov. 29. EPA is requesting notices of intent to participate be submitted to the agency by Dec. 15. 

Lastly, the Recycling Education and Outreach Grants program is designed to help states, territories, tribal and local governments, and other organizations fund projects to improve education and outreach on waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting. Webinars covering this program will begin on Nov. 30. The deadline to apply for funding will be Jan. 16, 2023. 

Register for any of the webinars by clicking here. Additional information to help potential applicants submit their requests is available here.

Nov. 15, 2022: Applications are now being accepted for funding to help reduce food waste. The new ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund has $20 million total available to help both for-profit and nonprofit organizations “de-risk and scale high-impact solutions to food waste,” according to an announcement. Interested applicants should submit a letter of intent by the end of the day on Nov. 30. ReFED is a national nonprofit group.

Oct. 31, 2022: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) is accepting applications for its 2023 round of multifamily recycling and food waste prevention grants. The multifamily recycling grant program funds new or expanded recycling programs for apartments and condominium buildings, with money going toward equipment and supplies. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through Feb. 16, 2023. Additionally, NC DEQ is accepting applications for food waste reduction grants, which pay to expand food donation networks or compost operations, including organics collection and hauling. Proposals for that program are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 19, 2023. NC DEQ’s deadline to apply for its Recycling Business Development Grants is 5 p.m Eastern on Nov. 17. The Recycling Business Development Grant process was detailed in Grant Watch on Sept. 14.

Oct. 31, 2022: The state of Pennsylvania has awarded millions of dollars for a number of recycling-related projects, including $5 million to develop a plastics sorting facility in Erie, Pa. The grants, which flowed through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), included $5 million to IRG Erie, which is developing a $200 million scrap plastic sorting and flaking facility on 25 acres in Erie, dubbed the “SuperPRF”; $750,000 to the Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority to build a MRF for rural, single-stream recycling; and $1.12 million the Wayne Township Landfill to build a new access road and improve the recycling area at the landfill, according to the program page.

Oct. 27, 2022: A Canadian chemical recycling technology developer received a grant to support its “Tuning Supercritical Fluids for Polymer Recycling to Monomers and Chemicals” project, according to a press release. Sarnia, Ontario-based Aduro Clean Technologies received funding from Canada’s National Sciences and Engineering Research Council Alliance and the Mitacs Accelerate Grants Program worth 1.15 million Canadian dollars (about $446,000 U.S.). Slated to begin in November 2022, the three-year research project, which will take place in partnership with the University of Western Ontario, will evaluate ways to reduce the need for expensive sorting of feedstock for the Hydrochemolytic process.

Oct. 26, 2022: The U.S. EPA has awarded multiple small-business grants to recycling companies, including those tackling sortation and glass end markets. The EPA awarded nearly $3.2 million to eight companies through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants program, according to a press release. Among the recipients were CleanRobotics, which received $370,000 to further develop an AI-powered robotics system for recyclables sorting and other purposes; KLAW Industries, which received $400,000 to develop its process for recycling post-consumer glass into a cement alternative; and Zabble Inc., which received $400,000 for its zero waste software targeting the healthcare industry and other settings. Another award that could have implications for the recycling industry is a $400,000 grant to Ohio Lumex Company, which is developing a sorbent trap method for continuous air emissions monitoring of hazardous metals, which could prove useful for metals smelters/refineries, glass bottle plants and other recycling facilities.

Oct. 26, 2022: Amazon Business’ Small Business Grants program has awarded a small New Orleans-based glass recycling company a $20,000 grant. Glass Half Full was one of 15 small businesses nominated by Amazon Business out of a pool of over 19,000 applicants. The company, which was founded by former Tulane University students Max Steitz and Franziska Trautmann, will use the money to buy machinery and equipment to keep its mostly volunteer-run business up and running.

Oct. 25, 2022: The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) awarded nearly $5 million in sustainable materials management (SMM) grants to launch food scrap collection pilot programs. According to a press release, the following towns will receive grants: Ansonia, Bethany, Deep River, Guilford, Madison, Meriden, Middletown, Newtown, Seymour, Stonington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, West Haven, Woodbridge and Woodbury. Grant awardees will receive support from the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG), Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) and Housatonic Resources Regional Authority (HRRA). Funding for the $5 million grant program was proposed by the governor and approved by state legislators. The DEEP press release notes many of the applicants modeled their pilot projects off a four-month, 1,000-household pilot program launched in the city of Meriden earlier this year with DEEP funding. 

Oct. 25, 2022: The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) awarded a $312,000 grant to the Hawai’i Department of Transportation, which will use the money to help build a plastics recycling research facility. The competitive grant funding, which flowed through the FHA’s Climate Challenge Initiative, will be combined with other funding sources to build the roughly $6 million research facility, according to Maui Now. The facility’s focus will be on researching the recycling of scrap plastics generated on the islands into local transportation infrastructure. 

Oct. 25, 2022: The Every Bottle Back initiative has awarded a $243,000 grant to Ypsilanti Township, Mich. to help it expand residential recycling access and move from an opt-in system to universal cart distribution. According to a press release from American Beverage (formerly the American Beverage Association), over 15,000 households will automatically receive free 96-gallon curbside carts. Every Bottle Back is a beverage industry-led effort supported by The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. It’s run in collaboration with The Recycling Partnership and the Michigan Soft Drink Association. To date, Every Bottle Back has committed over $19 million in funding.

Oct. 23, 2022: The NextCycle Colorado program is accepting applications from companies interested in scaling up their promising circular-economy-based businesses. The small business accelerator program on Oct. 18 released its applications for those looking to join the 2023 round of participants. The program, which has peer programs in Michigan and Washington state, provides money, financier connections and other resources to recycling startups. The goal is to help the Centennial State reach its target of a 45% statewide diversion rate by 2036. Applications are due by 4 p.m. Mountain time on Dec. 1. 

Oct. 21, 2022: The NextCycle Michigan initiative announced recipients of state recycling grants and the winners of a unique pitch competition. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) in 2022 has awarded $2.28 million in grants to support recycling efforts. The largest three grants went to Goodwill Industries of West Michigan, which received $500,000 to recycle at least 2 million pounds per year of the nonprofit’s plastic scrap into stormwater management systems through a partnership with manufacturer HydroBlox Technologies; Glacier, which received $367,000 to demonstrate its robotic sorters at the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC) and Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) MRFs; and Noble Polymers, which received $296,000 to recycle and compound mixed curbside plastics for use in a range of industries. Separately, the EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan program announced the winners of the pitch competition. The startup projects will split $51,600 in prize money to help them scale up their circular economy efforts, according to a press release.

Oct. 14, 2022: Officials in Washington state have announced the 16 projects selected for the inaugural NextCycle Washington Circular Accelerator. The King County Solid Waste Division and the Washington State departments of Ecology and Commerce announced that the selected projects focus on a range of waste-prevention issues, including food scrap composting, repair and reuse, and expanding access to recycling services. According to a press release, the 2022 program is broken into two tracks: upstream projects, which include reuse, gear and tool-sharing efforts, and downstream projects, including organics management and recycling efforts. The NextCycle Washington Circular Accelerator Program, which is modeled off similar efforts in Colorado and Michigan and launched this year, is now accepting applications for its Renew Seed Grants of up to $10,000 for developing early stage projects focused on material waste reduction, reuse, repair or recycling of materials. Applications are due by Nov. 16.

Oct. 11, 2022: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition provided a $40,000 grant to help enable polystyrene foam recycling in Henderson County, N.C. According to a press release, the money will go toward adding a foam densifier at the county’s transfer station, allowing the program to accept PS foam year-round. Otherwise, residents have depended on biannual hard-to-recycle collection events to recycle materials such as PS foam.

Oct. 5, 2022: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is accepting applications for its grant program to help Front Range region communities move toward zero waste. The department released a request for applications, noting that the first round of questions ends Oct. 14. The second round of questions for the program will end on Oct. 28. The application deadline is Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. Mountain time.

Oct. 3, 2022: Google is accepting applications from circular economy startups interested in participating in the tech company’s business accelerator program. Google on Oct. 3 launched Google for Startups: Circular Economy, a 10-week program that will offer selected businesses resources, mentoring and technical support. To start, businesses in North America and the Asia-Pacific region are eligible. Google will accept applications until Nov. 14, 2022. The program will begin in February 2023.

Sept. 20, 2022: The U.S. Plastics Pact is accepting applications for its Reuse Catalyst program, which supports and develops companies with scalable reuse and refillable packaging solutions in the U.S. Selected companies will receive access to the U.S. Pact network, including the potential for one-on-one meetings with retailers, investors and mentors; meetings with all participating innovators to collaborate and discuss progress, obstacles and assistance; and brand recognition. The Reuse Catalyst was jointly created by the U.S. Plastics Pact, Closed Loop Partners, the Reusable Packaging Association and the World Wildlife Fund. Applications are due by Oct. 20, 2022.

Sept. 14, 2022: The North Carolina Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) is accepting applications for its 2023 Recycling Business Development Grants. RBAC will provide grants of up to $40,000 for standard projects and $60,000 for priority projects. Recipients will be required to provide a 50% match. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 17.

Sept. 6, 2022: The beverage industry-funded Every Bottle Back initiative awarded grants to two cities in Massachusetts: Falmouth and Methuen. According to a press release from American Beverage (formerly known as the American Beverage Association), The Recycling Partnership selected Falmouth to receive a $336,000 grant and Methuen to receive $240,000. The funds will provide 95-gallon curbside carts for residents in both cities, as well as related community outreach and education. Focused on boosting supply of recovered PET bottles, Every Bottle Back has support from The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper, PepsiCo and Polar Beverages. The program is managed by The Recycling Partnership. 

Sept. 1, 2022: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has $500,000 available to support grants for recycling and household hazardous waste (HHW). Local governments, schools, nonprofits and others are eligible to apply for a Community Recycling Grant of between $1,000 and $100,000 each. According to a press release, eligible projects include those that focus on education and promotion of recycling, processing of recyclable materials, waste reduction, or HHW and organics management. Applications are due Oct. 6, 2022, and funding determinations are expected to be made in December. 

Aug. 30, 2022: The Glass Recycling Foundation (GRF) is awarding $70,000 in grants to boost glass recycling in North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania communities this year. According to a press release, GRF has or will provide grants to the following organizations: Repeat Glass of Cleveland Heights, Ohio to help buy roll-off containers to collect glass; Stillwater, Okla. to buy curbside recycling bins to provide source-separated glass collection for 400 households; Prism Glass Recycling of Erie County, Pa. to help the county provide glass collection service to 20 bars and restaurants; and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), which will provide grants to three communities. Those communities are Pinehurst, which will install a drop-off glass collection facility; Moore County, which will build a glass bunker, roll-off containers and more; and Pitt County, which will build a glass storage bunker. The deadline to apply for the next round of GRF grants is Oct. 7, 2022.

Aug. 23, 2022: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition provided a grant to allow the town of Gilford, N.H. to add foam recycling. According to a press release, the $50,000 grant will help fund a Foam Cycle system, which includes an expanded polystyrene densifier, at the town’s solid waste center. Gilford is the 24th recipient of a Foam Recycling Coalition grant since 2015. Visit RecycleFoam.org to apply for a grant.

Aug. 17, 2022: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) and The Recycling Partnership are accepting applications for grants to improve drop-off recycling programs in the Buckeye State. The program will provide grants to solid waste management districts and other local jurisdictions, with a dollar amount of up to $3 per household. According to a press release, the grants will provide selected drop-off recycling programs with direct mail educational materials, drop-off site signs and advertising. A request for proposal (RFP) period will be open from Aug. 29 through Nov. 18.

Aug. 10, 2022: British Columbia has 10 million Canadian dollars (about $7.8 million) available to fund projects reducing the use of single-use plastics and supporting manufacturing with recycled resin. The province’s 2022 budget sets aside that sum in the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, which supports projects that reduce the use of new plastic, expand reuse of plastics, and increase use of post-consumer resin (PCR), according to a press release. In 2021, which is when the first round of funding was issued, the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund provided nearly 5 million Canadian dollars to nine projects, which collectively increased B.C.’s capacity to process and use recycled plastic by 20,000 metric tons per year. As an example of one project, Merlin Plastics upgraded its equipment to increase the supply of recycled plastic available for use in packaging. Applications for the second round of grants are now being accepted.

July 29, 2022: Plastics reclaimer EFS-plastics has received a $200,000 grant to increase its film recycling capacity at its Hazleton, Pa. facility. The Recycling Partnership’s Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition awarded the first of its film packaging capture grants to EFS-plastics, which has facilities in Ontario and Pennsylvania. According to a press release, the grant will increase the company’s film recycling capacity by about 6.7 million pounds per year. In addition to funding equipment, the grant will pay for testing at EFS’ facility in Listowel, Ontario. Specifically, the testing will explore reprocessing scrap material into pellets for new products and packaging.

July 15, 2022: The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has awarded $2.3 million in recycling grants to nearly two dozen communities – more than it’s ever awarded in a single year. According to a press release, the fiscal year 2023 grants will help pay for collection equipment, educational materials, processing equipment such as glass crushers, and other projects. The funds will benefit nearly 600,000 households, many of which are in disadvantaged communities. The money comes from a $1-per-ton landfill tip fee. The release notes that ADEM is seeking additional recycling funding from the federal government through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress last year.

July 11, 2022: Metro, a regional government in the Portland, Ore. area, has awarded $2 million in grants to 22 organizations focused on reducing waste. According to a press release, the funds were distributed through two types of grants, one providing money for capital investments and another providing support for program expenses. The largest overall grant, $500,000, went to composting company Dirt Hugger. Dirt Hugger, which was recently acquired by Atlas Organics, will match the grant dollar-for-dollar to boost its food scraps and yard debris composting capacity from 62,700 to 90,000 tons annually. All of the funded projects successfully incorporated racial equity into their proposals, including efforts to reach marginalized communities through expanded services, training and employment opportunities, or reduced harms from garbage and recycling operations, according to the release.

June 28, 2022: The Ohio EPA has awarded millions of dollars in recycling and litter prevention grants to local governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations across the state. Statewide, the agency is awarding nearly $6 million to 89 recipients, with $3.2 million specifically for community and litter prevention programs. The EPA issued press releases for grants awarded in different areas. Specifically, the agency awarded $965,000 to 14 entities in southeast Ohio, $615,000 to 20 organizations in southwest Ohio, $874,000 to 14 organizations in central Ohio, $2.1 million to 23 organizations in northwest Ohio and $1.4 million to 18 organizations in northeast Ohio.

June 23, 2022: The U.S. EPA is accepting applications from small businesses developing technologies in recycling and other sustainability areas. The agency on June 15 opened the application period for its 2022-23 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program. SBIR Phase 1 provides up to $100,000 to demonstrate proof of concept of technologies in the realm of circular economy/sustainable materials and other areas. Successful Phase 1 companies can apply for Phase 2 funding, which awards up to $400,000 for two years, with a commercialization option of up to $100,000, to further develop and commercialize the technology. EPA is one of 11 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program. Past recipients of SBIR funding include recyclables sorting technology company AMP Robotics, battery recycling startup Nth Cycle and scrap plastics tracking company Kamilo. Applications are due by Aug. 23, 2022.

June 22, 2022: Tire Stewardship BC awarded 13 grants to fund the recycling of scrap tires into rubber surfacing for playgrounds, parks and other gathering spaces. According to a press release, the British Columbia-based stewardship organization’s funding will support the recycling of nearly 15,000 tires.

June 12, 2022: Michigan is accepting applications for funding through several NextCycle Michigan grant programs, including those focused on small-scale projects, recycling infrastructure and market development, organics management and recycling technology development. Application are due by June 30 for grants from the MICROS program, which provides up to $10,000 for small-scale yet scalable waste-reduction projects, and the Recycling Infrastructure & Recycling Market Development grant program from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Two other programs have applications due by July 22. Those are the Food Liquid Organic Waste Systems (FLOWS) program, which supports teams with organics recovery solutions, and Recycling Innovation Technology (RIT), which seeks to support a number of sustainable materials management-related development efforts.

June 8, 2022: The Recycling Partnership is now accepting applications for funding through its newly launched PET Recycling Coalition. Modeled after The Recycling Partnership’s Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, the PET effort will fund projects to increase the capture rate of PET bottles; broaden acceptance of PET trays, cups and clamshells in community recycling programs; unlock supplies of RPET for packaging manufacturers; and strengthen recycling systems for colored PET and opaque PET. A press release noted that about one-quarter of PET bottles are captured in bins for recycling, and a significant amount of those aren’t effectively sorted at MRFs. The PET Recycling Coalition has an initial funding goal of providing $25 million over five years, but fundraising efforts continue. MRFs and PET reclaimers can apply for grants online. The first round of funding applications are due by Aug. 31, 2022.

June 6, 2022: The state of Pennsylvania is accepting applications for grants to start agricultural plastics recycling programs. According to a press release, the money will come from the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Project (APRP), which is a statewide pilot program with a focus in the following counties: Adams, Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and Perry. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday, July 8. 

May 31, 2022: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded $245,000 in glass recycling grants to four local governments and one private company. The grants, which were provided in partnership with the Glass Recycling Foundation, where as follows: $20,000 to the town of Pinehurst to set up a drop-off site; $45,500 to Moore County for improvements at its glass collection site; $70,500 to Pitt County for equipment for its glass collection site; $80,000 for glass cleaning equipment at Mecklenburg County’s MRF; and $19,000 to Sonoco for glass cleaning equipment at its MRF. DEQ’s Recycling Program provided $200,000 for the grants, and the Glass Recycling Foundation pledged $35,000, according to a press release.

May 23, 2022: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded its spring round of 2022 Waste Diversion Grants, totaling $182,000. The six funded projects divert materials from disposal by expanding composting and recycling opportunities, according to a press release. DEP will announce the next round of grant recipients in August.

May 17, 2022: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management awarded $465,068 in community recycling grants to 18 public and private organizations. The grants help fund recycling and waste-reduction projects at the local level by supporting education and outreach, waste reduction, organics management and HHW collection and disposal, according to a press release. The money comes from a landfill and incinerator tipping fee of 50 cents per ton.

May 16, 2022: The state of Kentucky awarded $4.7 million to Kentucky municipalities, fiscal courts and universities for 71 projects. Three types of grants were awarded under that $4.7 million: recycling grants, which help counties pay for recycling equipment; composting grants, which fund equipment to process food scraps, lawn debris or other organics streams; and HHW grants, which help counties host drop-off events for household chemicals, electronics and other materials. A Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet press release noted the state awarded 30 recycling grants worth $2.77 million, 11 composting grants worth $1.21 million and 30 household hazardous waste grants worth nearly $716,000. The money comes from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which is generated by a $1.75 fee for each ton disposed of in Kentucky landfills.

May 10, 2022: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has $250,000 available for rural electronics recycling grants. According to a press release, local governments, nonprofit organizations, for-profit processors and others can apply for money to help increase access in rural areas to electronics recycling. Applications are due by July 2, 2022.

May 9, 2022: The Recycling Partnership is accepting applications for the current round of Polypropylene Recycling Coalition grants. The funds help MRFs pay for equipment needed to better sort PP for sale to downstream processors. The due date for applications for the seventh round of grants is July 29, 2022.

May 2, 2022: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is accepting applications from municipalities looking for money to help establish or expand food scrap recycling programs. According to a press release, DEC now has $2 million available for grants focused on food scrap diversion. The first $1 million will prioritize projects that dedicate at least half of the funding to serving communities that are overburdened by pollution. An informational webinar on the grants has been scheduled for May 11. DEC is accepting applications on an ongoing basis.

May 2, 2022: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting applications for grants to help begin or expand multi-family recycling programs. The Multifamily Recycling Grant Program provides between $25,000 and $250,000 to local governments, recycling businesses, nonprofit groups, multi-family property owners or multi-family property management companies. The money can pay for carts, dumpsters, collection vehicles, concrete pads, recycling corrals and education materials, according to a DEQ post. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted. 

April 29, 2022: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is accepting applications for its Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP). Last year, the department awarded $3.2 million to 268 communities and regional entities through the program, according to a Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) post. This year, the program will provide funding in six categories: mattress recycling, pay-as-you-throw program assistance, recycling and food waste collection carts, mercury collection sheds, regional small-scale initiatives, and the Recycling Dividends Program. Applications, which are submitted through Re-TRAC Connect, are due June 15.

April 28, 2022: The city of Laurel, Md. received a $112,000 grant from the Every Bottle Back initiative, a beverage industry-funded effort managed by The Recycling Partnership. According to a press release, the funding will help the city provide residents with 7,150 65-gallon curbside recycling carts for free. The money also funds outreach to residents and education on what is and isn’t accepted in the program. The Every Bottle Back initiative was launched in 2019 by American Beverage (formerly known as the American Beverage Association). It is a plastic-bottle-focused partnership between The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. The Laurel grant is the 12th of 22 projects the beverage industry has committed to funding through the initiative, the release said. 

April 27, 2022: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) awarded $4.5 million to the State University of New York’s University at Buffalo to fund a plastics recycling research effort. Using the money, the university will create a Center for Plastic Recycling Research and Innovation, a press release states. “This expanded academic partnership will improve plastics recycling by researching the development of secondary recyclable markets to ease the financial burdens on municipal recycling programs and streamline the recycling process, especially with certain types of lower-grade plastics,” according to the release. Money for the grant comes from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, which was boosted from $300 million to $400 million in the 2022-23 state budget. 

April 27, 2022: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded $30.5 million in recycling grants to 157 county and municipal governments. The Recycling Development and Implementation Grants will help fund recyclables collection and education, as well as leaf pickup for composting. The state money provides up to 90% of the funding for approved recycling program costs, although municipalities that are designated as financially distressed can have the state grants pay 100% of the approved costs, according to a press release

April 19, 2022: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) awarded over $7 million in grants to various recycling efforts around the state. A press release highlighted several of the projects funded by the grants, including the following: $300,000 to support an ACI Plastics project to install a system processing 25 million pounds of post-consumer film a year; $202,000 to boost recycling access in Detroit neighborhoods and parks; $135,000 to expand recycling in commercial sectors in three Detroit-area counties; $251,000 to expand residential recycling in the Upper Peninsula this year; $1 million to help build a recycling center in Alpena County; and $275,000 to help expand Grand Rapids-based vermicomposting business Wormies.

April 14, 2022: The Alberta government is providing grants focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by supporting a circular economy. Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) has 50 million Canadian dollars available for grant awards through the province’s new Circular Economy Challenge. The money is meant to support innovations that reduce impacts of material production, processing and disposal, according to an ERA post, and successful applications are eligible for between $500,000 and $10 million. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Mountain time on May 26, 2022.

April 13, 2022: The Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) will accept pre-proposals for its research grants starting April 15. The grants fund research on solid waste management practices, specifically waste minimization, recycling, conversion to energy or other products, strategies to promote diversion to higher and better uses and landfilling. Previous grants have ranged from $15,000 to over $500,000, with the average in recent years being $160,000. Projects typically last two years. Pre-proposals are due by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on May 2.

April 11, 2022: The British Columbia government is accepting applications for funding to support composting. Under the Organics Infrastructure Program (OIP), public and nonprofit organizations can receive grants to divert organic materials from landfills and boost organic processing capacity in the province. Applications are due at 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on June 3, 2022. 

April 9, 2022: Maui County, Hawaii is accepting applications for recycling grants for the 2023 fiscal year. Applicants can include for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals. Projects must advance the county’s goals of zero waste and diversion from landfill, according to MauiNow.com. An information session will be held at 2 p.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time on April 13. Applications are due by May 2, 2022. 

April 8, 2022: The Recycling Partnership, in association with Resource Recycling, Inc,. is now accepting applications for the 2022 Steve Thompson Memorial Grant Program, which pays for recycling professionals to attend the annual Resource Recycling Conference. This year’s in-person conference is scheduled for Aug. 15-17 in Austin, Texas. Grantees receive conference registration, a two-night hotel stay and travel reimbursement up to $650. The Resource Recycling Conference is the only national event dedicated to enhancing municipal recycling. Recycling industry leader Steve Thompson was a committed recycling champion who worked tirelessly to move the industry forward. Applications are due by the end of the day on May 6, 2022, Pacific Standard Time.

March 29, 2022: King County, Wash. will provide up to $1.8 million in grants for local recycling, reuse and waste-reduction projects. The funds are part of the new Re+ Circular Economy Grant Program. King County’s Solid Waste Division will accept applications from businesses, community-based organizations, tribal governments and colleges and universities in the county’s 37-city service area, according to a press release. Applicants can receive between $20,000 and $300,000 per project. A virtual information session is set for April 6, and the application deadline is May 6.

March 29, 2022: Global brand owners are accepting applications for startups interested in joining a global business incubator program focused on the circular economy and a number of other environmental areas, according to Beverage Daily. AB InBev, The Coca-Cola Co., Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever all back the 100+ Accelerator program, which offers up to $100,000 to fund pilot programs and hands-on support to help the companies get off the ground. Past participants have recycled glass, electric vehicle batteries and more.

March 23, 2022: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and The Recycling Partnership announced nearly $791,000 in grants to 13 recycling programs in Michigan. According to a press release, the programs receiving funding for 2022 cover 362,000 households. In addition to the grants, EGLE and The Recycling Partnership recently launched the Michigan Small Community Education Grant Program, which provides communities with fewer than 10,000 households recycling education and outreach materials.

March 22, 2022: The Foam Recycling Coalition is accepting applications for grants to fund equipment for polystyrene foam recycling. The coalition, which is part of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, provides money to buy densifiers, which allow foam to be cost-effectively collected, stored and shipped to plastics reclaimers. Public and private organizations involved in managing residential drop-off and curbside recycling programs or MRFs are eligible to apply for grants of up to $50,000 each. Since 2015, the Foam Recycling Coalition has awarded 23 grants totaling over $850,000. Applications for this round of funding are due by Friday, April 29, for priority consideration.

Feb. 24, 2022: The U.S. EPA awarded $2 million in grants to 11 organizations to divert food scraps from landfills by expanding anaerobic digester (AD) capacity. AD, which involves using microorganisms to break down organic materials in the absence of oxygen, produces biogas that can be used for energy production and digestate, a nutrient-rich product used for fertilizer. According to a press release, the grant recipients are the District of Columbia Department of Public Works in Washington, D.C.; Food Lifeline in Seattle; Georgia Southern University Research and Services Foundation in Statesboro, Ga.; Monterey One Water of Monterey County, Calif.; the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA), based in Boston; Ohio University in Athens County, Ohio; San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition of Mosca, Colo.; the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa; the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus in Cataño, Puerto Rico; the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt.; and the Yurok Tribe in Klamath, Calif.

Feb. 24, 2022: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) awarded nearly $16.2 million in recycling grants to communities around the state. The sum is a slight increase from the previous year’s grants, according to a press release. The grants, which are awarded based on communities’ past recycling performance, can be used for various recycling initiatives, such as sponsoring HHW collection events, providing public space receptacles or maintaining yard debris composting operations. The money comes from a $3 surcharge on landfilled waste.

Feb. 22, 2022: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition provided a $50,000 grant to help Wisconsin’s Outagamie County add expanded polystyrene foam recycling to its program. According to a press release, Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste (OCRSW) will use the money to help purchase a foam densifier for its Resource Recovery Park in Appleton, Wis. The facility, which serves over 247,000 households across 65 municipalities, will be able to accept foam foodservice packaging and protective packaging and padding.

Feb. 18, 2022: The Association of Ohio Recyclers (AOR) announced a grant opportunity to help its members “enhance, increase and promote recycling and similar sustainability related projects.” According to a press release, funds of up to $500 are available on a competitive basis for all AOR members. Applications are due April 1, 2022.

Feb. 16, 2022: The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy awarded $6.68 million in grants for 2022 to support 155 litter- and waste-reduction projects, recycling programs, collection events for household hazardous waste, tire cleanup efforts and more. The money flowed through the state’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive program, which is funded by a landfill tip fee, an annual retail business sales fee and a tire sales fee. Grant applications for 2023 will be available in early July 2022, according to a press release.

Feb. 2, 2022: The Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation awarded $15,000 in “How to Reconsider Litter and Recycle Right” grants to six local affiliates. The foundation is a statewide organization that leads more than 70 local government affiliates in their efforts to end litter, reduce waste, promote recycling and beautify communities, according to a press release. The grant was created in partnership with the Georgia Recycling Coalition and funded by the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America.

Jan. 24, 2022: The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) has begun its Recycling with Results project, which was funded in 2021 by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service grant. NRRA, a nonprofit group that enables communities to manage their own recycling programs, will use the money to help “small, rural communities in New Hampshire recycle more and recycle better in order to reduce their solid waste stream,” according to an NRRA press release. Additionally, NRRA has created a Solid Waste Advisory Team (SWAT) Program to provide educational and technical assistance to town employees and officials and a Recycle Right digital campaign to provide recycling information to residents. Both initiatives will launch in the spring.

Jan. 20, 2022: A residential food scrap collection service in Baltimore, Md. has received a grant from 11th Hour Racing, an organization that works to mobilize the sailing, maritime and coastal communities to protect the oceans. The grant funds, which were provided by The Schmidt Family Foundation, went to five projects, one dealing directly with materials recovery: The Baltimore Compost Collective. The collective hires and trains local teenages in workforce skills, food sustainability programming and community-scale composting, according to a press release. 11th Hour Racing is accepting new grant applications through Jan. 31, 2022.

Jan. 13, 2022: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has $4.5 million available for its Front Range Waste Diversion grant program, and it’s now accepting applications. The money is intended to help communities along the Front Range (the populated region along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains) move toward Colorado’s zero waste vision, which calls “for every Front Range community to ultimately provide access to universal curbside recycling and compost collections for all residents, using best practices of bundling with trash services and incentivizing through volume-based pricing, also known as Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT).” Questions submitted as part of the first round of questions are due by 3 p.m. Mountain time on Jan. 26. Applications are due by 3 p.m. on March 4, 2022.

Jan. 11, 2022: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has given $13.4 million in grants to seven public and private organizations to research recycling technologies for single-use plastics. According to a press release, the projects are as follows: $1.6 million to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell to integrate de-lamination and carbonization processes for recycling multilayer films; $2 million to plastics producer Braskem to develop recyclable, single-polymer, bio-based, multi-layer films; $2.5 million to Iowa State University of Science and Technology to develop a technology for recycling single-use plastic films into biodegradable polymers; $1.7 million to Michigan State University to redesign plastics to be inherently recyclable; $2.5 million to North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University to formulate the catalytic deconstruction of plasma treated single-use plastics to value-added chemicals and novel materials; $1.6 million to TDA Research of Wheat Ridge, Colo. to develop recyclable and biodegradable films for food packaging; and $1.5 million to West Virginia University Research Corporation to develop conversion of films to monomers by using microwave catalysis.

Jan. 11, 2022: The Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) awarded a $50,000 grant to the Memphis, Tenn. nonprofit group Binghampton Development Corporation (BDC) to support polystyrene foam recycling. The money will help pay for a foam densifer for the group’s Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM). The facility is part of the BDC’s new effort to recycle hard-to-recycle materials that become a blight on Memphis neighborhoods, including tires, foam polystyrene and mattresses. Others interested in applying for FPI grants can visit RecycleFoam.org.

Jan. 4, 2022: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is accepting applications from municipalities that need support to comply with this year’s requirement that they provide residents organics collection service. Senate Bill 1383 mandates that, starting in 2022, every municipality must provide for organics collection service, procure set amounts of recovered organic waste products, and ensure that certain foodservice businesses donate eligible food to food recovery organizations. Many jurisdictions will need financial help to comply, however. CalRecycle has $57 million available for non-competitive grants to assist them. Applications are due Feb. 1.

Dec. 20, 2021: The U.S. EPA is looking to fund research projects focused on reducing consumer food waste. The agency’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program is accepting applications to fund “cutting-edge transdisciplinary research … to develop, apply, and test innovative and creative community-engaged approaches/methods to reduce household food waste through prevention (i.e., not redistribution) in the U.S. in real world settings.” The research can include the following disciplines, as examples: behavioral science, psychology, economics, public health and sociology. Applications are due by the end of the day (Eastern time) on Feb. 9, 2022.

Dec. 10, 2021: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is accepting applications for a few different grants programs. EGLE has $15 million in matching grants available for 2022 for projects to increase recycling in Michigan. Applicants should use an online portal. The deadline for Recycling Infrastructure Grants is April 20, 2022. The 2022 deadlines for Recycling Market Development Grants are Jan. 7, April 20 and June 30. Lastly, applications for Small Community Education Grants will be considered until all funding is distributed.

Dec. 3, 2021: The British Columbia government awarded nearly 12.5 million Canadian dollars (nearly $9.9 million) to support organics projects around the province. Provided through the CleanBC Organic Infrastructure and Collection Program, the money will help fund six organics infrastructure projects and 17 collection programs, according to a press release. The infrastructure-only projects are the following (all dollars in Canadian): $1.55 million in-vessel composting facility on Bowen Island, $52,000 aeration composting system at Chaumox Landfill, $113,000 composting facility expansion in Kitkatla, and a $13.56 million expanded Convertus Compost Facility (formerly known as Circular Waste BC). Two other projects include both infrastructure and collection improvements: $384,000 project in Alkali Lake that includes a new composting facility for the Esk’etemc First Nation, and a $558,000 project in Klemtu that includes a new in-vessel composting facility for the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation. Launched in 2020, the CleanBC Organic Infrastructure and Collection Program is providing up to $25.9 million over three years. 

Nov. 17, 2021: The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) is accepting pre-proposals for grants to fund research into waste minimization, recycling, waste conversion processes, strategies to promote diversion to higher and better uses, and landfilling. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Eastern time on Dec. 1.

Nov. 16, 2021: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced the launch of the third year of the NextCycle Colorado program, which includes grants to users of recovered materials. Businesses apply to join the program and, if accepted, are provided technical support and mentorship by consulting firm Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), according to a press release. If they advance, they’re eligible to apply for CDPHE grant funding. To apply, visit cdphe.colorado.gov/next-cycle-colorado or email [email protected].

Nov. 16, 2021: The Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition gave a $29,000 grant to the Ray Lovato Recycling Center, a nonprofit environmental organization in Rock Springs, Wyo., to help buy a foam densifier. The equipment will allow the center to begin accepting expanded polystyrene foam at its drop-off center from homes and businesses. The recycling center serves about 13,000 households. The grant is the 21st awarded by the Foam Recycling Coalition since 2015. To apply for grants, visit RecycleFoam.org.

Nov. 15, 2021: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) awarded over $3.1 million in Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) grants to support recycling, composting and waste-reduction efforts. According to a press release, 286 municipalities and regional solid waste districts received funding. Specifically, 226 communities qualified under the Recycling Dividends Program (RDP) and will receive a total of $3.12 million. That program rewards communities that implement policies and programs that boost reuse, waste reduction and recycling.

Nov. 5, 2021: The Carton Council of North America and the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) provided a grant allowing a Michigan MRF to buy sorting equipment for paper cups and cartons. According to a press release, a New Boston, Mich. MRF owned by GFL Environmental received a grant from the industry groups to install sorting technology. As a result of that and other investments in sorting technology, over 70% of Michigan households, including those in Detroit, can now recycle cartons and plastic-lined paper cups, according to the release from Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), which works for FPI.

Nov. 5, 2021: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) is accepting applications for the 2022 round of recycling business development grants. Projects involving the collection, processing or end use of scrap materials are eligible for funding. Grant money generally funds equipment or facility improvements, and it cannot be used to cover operating costs. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 16. 

Separately, the department is accepting applications for grants to fund glass recycling, specifically. The Glass Equipment and Infrastructure grants support the purchase of glass recycling equipment at single-stream MRFs or equipment for community drop-off glass collections. Applications for those grants are due 5 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 31, 2022. 

Nov. 5, 2021: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is accepting applications for edible food recovery grants. The department has a total of $2.8 million available to help local governments, nonprofit groups, state agencies, schools/universities and tribal governments divert edible food away from disposal and toward low-income people in need. The funding is part of the state’s latest $120 million investment in fighting climate change (food scraps at landfills produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas). The deadline to apply for grants of up to $250,000 is Dec. 16.

Nov. 2, 2021: The Ohio EPA will host a webinar to discuss its 2022 Recycling and Litter Prevention Grant application process, funding opportunities, and eligible project activities. The program provides grants to establish recycling and litter prevention programs, develop recycling markets, expand processing facilities and make other recycling infrastructure improvements. The webinar is at 10 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 3. The deadline for 2022 grant applications is on Feb. 4, 2022.

Nov. 1, 2021: The Colorado Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability is accepting applications for grants to support organics diversion efforts in the Front Range region, the heavily populated part of the state at the eastern side of the Rockies. The Front Range Waste Diversion (FRWD) program is looking to support programs, policies and infrastructure related to organic waste reduction and recovery. Applications are due by 3 p.m. Mountain time on Dec. 20.

Oct. 19, 2021: The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and RecycleCT Foundation announced over $150,000 in grants were awarded to support waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting. The awards were the first for the Lee Sawyer Community Waste Reduction & Recycling Grant program, which was created earlier this year in memory of former DEEP Chief of Staff Lee Sawyer, who passed away on Oct. 31, 2020.

Oct. 4, 2021: The U.S. EPA’s Region 7 has awarded grants for sustainable materials management projects in three Midwest states. On Oct. 4, the agency announced a $141,000 grant to the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, Iowa. The money will help fund public education on diversion, waste management and sustainability in central Iowa, including virtual reality field trips to Metro Waste Authority facilities and a game in which players manage solid waste for a community. 

Also on Oct. 4, the EPA announced $196,000 to help reduce use of single-use plastics among St. Louis restaurants. With this project, the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) will partner with St. Louis-based earthday365 to coordinate developing source-reduction plans and expand a reusable food container program in the city. 

And lastly, the agency on Sept. 30 announced $470,000 for three Kansas City-area sustainable materials management projects. The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan. will receive $95,000 for a feasibility study for an composting facility, the Mid-America Regional Council will receive $175,000 to address food waste reduction in the metro area, and the Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute (PPI) will receive $200,000 for a Johnson County, Kan. project to tackle food and packaging waste source reduction, diversion and recycling.

Sept 28, 2021: U.S. EPA Region 4 is accepting applications for sustainable materials management grants. With about $300,000 budgeted, Region 4 expects to award three to seven grants ranging from about $40,000 to $100,000. Applicants must select at least one of the following technical assistance methods: research, investigation, experiments, education, training, studies or demonstration of innovative techniques. Applicants must also be located in Region 4, which covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The deadline to apply is Oct. 25. 

Sept. 12. 2021: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) awarded a $206,000 grant to three Rutgers University professors to improve the university’s recycling system, The Daily Targum reports. The money, which flowed through NJDEP’s Recycling Enhancement Grant Research program, will allow them to design strategies to reduce contamination and increase capture rates.

Sept. 8, 2021: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has grant funding available for recycling and household hazardous waste (HHW) collection and disposal. According to a press release, the department’s Community Recycling Grant Program has $500,000 available for grants for local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 15.

Sept. 3, 2021: The North Carolina Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC), part of the Department of Environmental Quality, is accepting applications for the 2022 round of Recycling Business Development Grants. The maximum grant award is $40,000 for standard projects and $60,000 for priority projects, with recipients matching at least 50% of the grant. Past grant winners are eligible to apply if their previously funded project has been completed and the grant contract is closed, or the previous winner has requested reimbursement for at least 90% of the grant award by Nov. 16. Proposals for the 2022 round of grants are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 16.  

Sept. 1, 2021: The U.S. Department of Energy awarded two grants totaling $6 million to the University of Maryland (UMD) to develop biofuels and bio-derived plastics from food waste. The research involves experts around the country, and the team will be led by Stephanie Lansing, professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at UMD. Lansing’s work already involves using anaerobic digestion to break down food scraps into energy and value-added products, according to a press release

Aug. 26, 2021: The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $2 million grant to researchers in Washington state to develop new technologies that break down commingled scrap plastics into their building blocks, which can be used to make new plastic or other chemical products. The funding went to a team at Washington State University and the University of Washington, according to a press release

Aug. 18, 2021: The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and The Recycling Partnership awarded a grant to help a MRF in Florida purchase aluminum sorting technology. The grant, which was funded by can producers Ardagh Metal Packaging and Crown Holdings, will allow GEL Recycling’s Port Orange, Fla. MRF to capture millions of used beverage cans (UBC) that are currently being lost in the sorting system’s plastic stream each year, according to a press release. The grant will fund a metal detector addition to the dual-stream MRF’s optical sorter. The GEL MRF is the third around the country to receive a UBC sorting equipment grant from CMI. More information about the grants process can be found here.

Aug. 11, 2021: The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) awarded $1.7 million in recycling grants to 16 municipalities. The grants will be used by local governments to purchase equipment such as balers, compactors, recycling trailers, recycling bins and collection vehicles, according to a press release. The money will also fund educational and promotional materials. Revenue for the grant program comes from a landfill tip fee of $1 per ton.

July 22, 2021: The U.S. EPA is seeking applications for funding to build anaerobic digestion capacity for food scraps. The agency, which plans to award up to $2 million total, is accepting proposals from states, tribes, territories and nonprofit organizations. An informational webinar is scheduled for 3-4 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 2. Applications are due by Oct. 7.

June 25, 2021: Kentucky awarded $4.8 million in grants to local governments and other entities to expand recycling and improve management of household hazardous waste (HHW). According to The Lane Report, the Kentucky Division of Waste Management awarded 34 recycling grants totaling $2.7 million, 29 HHW grants totaling $708,000, and 12 composting grants totaling nearly $1.4 million. Money comes from a $1.75 fee for each ton disposed of at landfills. 

June 21, 2021: The U.S. EPA is accepting applications for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grants to fund sustainable materials management-related technologies. The 2021-22 SBIR Phase I solicitation is aimed at small businesses that seek funding to demonstrate the feasibility of developing and commercializing an innovative technology on a particular topic. In this case, one of those topics is sustainable materials management, covering food waste, the recycling system in general, alternatives to low-value plastics, and low-impact construction materials. Applications are due Aug. 3, 2021. 

June 21, 2021: The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it has up to $2 million available for local governments to host community compost and food waste reduction pilot projects for fiscal year 2021. Applications are due by July 16, 2021.

June 14, 2021: An Atlanta-area county will receive $100,000 from the Every Bottle Back initiative to boost recycling participation, according to a press release. Announced by the American Beverage in partnership with Gwinnett County, The Recycling Partnership and Georgia Beverage Association, the grant will be used to encourage residents of unincorporated Gwinnett County, Ga. to request free curbside carts. The money will also support a recycling awareness campaign to boost recycling rates and decrease contamination. Additionally, the city of Norcross, which is located in Gwinnett County, received $15,000 to improve the quality of the city’s recycling stream.

June 8, 2021: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and The Recycling Partnership announced $575,000 is available in grants to improve residential recycling. All Michigan community recycling programs are eligible to apply for the funds, which pay for projects to fight contamination through curbside or drop-off programs, according to an EGLE press release. Communities can receive up to $4 per household for curbside programs and $3 per household for drop-off programs. Applications are due Aug. 20, 2021.

May 27, 2021: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced it is accepting the third round of applications for funding under the Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise and grant program. About $3.5 million total is available for grants to help communities boost recycling, composting and waste reduction. Applications are due at 3 p.m. Mountain time on July 13, 2021.

May 25, 2021: The U.S. Department of Energy will provide up to $14.5 million to support R&D focused on single-use film packaging recycling. Grants are available to develop “recycling and upcycling pathways” for scrap films and to redesign multi-layer films to make them recyclable or biodegradable. The deadline to submit concept papers for the Single-Use Plastics Recycling Funding Opportunity is 5 p.m. Eastern on June 28.

May 25, 2021: Over $1 million was awarded to the city of Louisville, Ky. to purchase recycling carts, according to a press release from the American Beverage Association (ABA). The funds will pay for 28,000 lidded carts. A number of organizations were involved in the grant award: The Recycling Partnership, Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC), The Kentucky and American beverage associations, and Unilever. In addition to purchasing carts, the money will support education and outreach efforts.

May 25, 2021: Compology has launched a grant program providing its recycling technologies to 25 municipalities in the U.S. The San Francisco-based company provides smart cameras and AI-powered waste metering technologies that help identify contaminants in commercial recyclables collection containers so they can be removed prior to entering a materials recovery facility (MRF). Through its new Clean and Green grants program, Compology will provide each grantee with up to 10 cameras for installation in commercial municipal waste and recycling dumpsters, according to a press release. The company will then provide the accompanying data tracking services. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.

May 19, 2021: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) awarded $3.5 million in grants to redirect surplus food from the waste stream to low-income residents. The Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grants, funded with cap-and-trade program proceeds, strive to keep food out of landfills, where they rot and generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The money will go to purposes such as purchasing refrigerated box trucks and hiring staff. “Getting business’s surplus food to Californians who don’t have enough to eat just makes sense,” CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner stated in a press release. “These funds will provide millions of meals to Californians who need them most and create new jobs, all while fighting climate change.”

May 6, 2021: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) extended the deadline to apply for grants to support electronics recycling in rural areas. The state has a total of $500,000 available for projects that may include improving collection and recycling infrastructure. Eligible recipients include local and tribal governments, districts and authorities; nonprofit organizations; health departments; colleges or universities; and for-profit Michigan-based registered e-scrap recycling companies (they’re eligible for infrastructure funds, specifically). EGLE has extended the deadline to apply to July 2.

May 5, 2021: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has $2 million available to support community composting and food-waste reduction pilot projects. Funding is open to local governments, nonporifit groups, tribal governments, and others. Applications are due by July 16, 2021.

April 23, 2021: The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will add $500,000 to $1.5 million already available to help reduce food waste and food insecurity across the Empire State. The total $2 million is meant to support the Food Donation and Food Scrap Recycling Act, which goes into effect in January 2022 and will require generators of excess edible food and food scraps to donate or otherwise divert organics.

April 22, 2021: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) recently awarded $25 million in grants to recycling businesses, local governments and nonprofit groups. The department awarded nearly $10.5 million to businesses recycling PET, glass and textiles; $9.5 million to local governments to support beverage container recycling and litter cleanup; $3.7 million to 21 communities to repair roads using rubberized pavement made with scrap tires; and $2 million to four businesses and nonprofit groups to support reusable products.

April 19, 2021: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) announced nearly $5 million in grants to help public and private entitities purchase recycling equipment. Announced in conjunction with the state’s new NextCycle Michigan initiative, the grants were as follows: $600,000 to the Delta Solid Waste Management Authority for recycling facility equipment, $250,000 to MRF operator Emterra Environmental for technology to produce a cleaner glass product, $250,000 to Great Lakes Tissue for technology allowing the company to recycle more types of containers into paper products, $170,000 for robotic sorting equipment to improve drop-off recycling at Michigan State University, $150,000 to Emmet County to expand the local food scrap collection program, and others.

April 15, 2021: The Canadian government awarded nearly $1.3 million (all dollars are Canadian) to five projects that aim to reduce plastic waste, prevent plastic pollution and support a circular economy. According to a press release, Environment and Climate Change Canada awarded $100,000 to Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation to study the link between single-use plastics pollution and microplastic accumulation, $250,000 to the Canadian Coalition for Green Healthcare to recycle personal protective equipment, $390,000 to the Conference Board of Canada to research and develop a “convening platform to inform Canada’s transition to a circular plastics economy,” $250,000 to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Ontario to improve the management of compostable products and support development of standards for bioplastics, and $300,000 to Scout Environmental to develop a network to facilitate industry collaboration to reduce plastic waste.

April 13, 2021: The Recycling Partnership and the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) awarded the first two grants under CMI’s aluminum beverage can capture grants program. The money will go toward installing eddy current separators at Independent Texas Recyclers’ MRF in Houston and Curbside Management’s MRF in Asheville, N.C. According to a press release, the equipment may capture 540 tons of aluminum that were previously missorted. The release also announced that additional applications will be accepted for funding under the pilot program. The deadline to submit applications is May 11.

April 6, 2021: The Carolina Recycling Association (CRA) is offering grants to help recycling programs pay for printing and distribution of recycling outreach materials in rural areas and small communities. The money will assist residential commingled or source-separated programs in North Carolina and South Carolina. The assistance was made possible by funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 14. 

April 6, 2021: The U.S. EPA awarded a grant to an Alaska company that is recycling ocean plastics into lumber products. According to a press release, the grant went to an Anchorage, Alaka company called PKS Consulting, which has a mobile Plastic Ocean Waste Recycler that produces plastic lumber from locally collected scrap plastic. The $100,000 grant was one of two dozen awarded across the country. The money flowed through the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

March 31, 2021: Materials recovery facilities in Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas will receive a total of $1 million in grants from the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition. The grant recipients were American Recycling in Candler, N.C., DEM-CON in Shakopee, Minn., and Independent Texas Recyclers in Houston. The money will pay for PP sorting equipment and efforts to communicate to households that PP is accepted in their curbside programs. Formed in July 2020, the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition has now awarded a total of $3 million. The Recycling Partnership administers the coalition. 

March 30, 2021: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) announced nearly half a million dollars in Recycling Business Development Grants to 16 recyclables processors. Businesses must match the awarded funds with their own money. All told, the grants will help stimulate $1.3 million in investments in recycling equipment.

March 23, 2021: Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is accepting applications for grants to support the collection and/or reuse of carpet in California. The stewardship group will provide grants of up to $15,000 each to support the collection and/or reuse of post-consumer carpet in the Golden State. A total of $100,000 is budgeted for the grants program. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a continuous basis through 2021 until the money is gone.

CARE also reported on all of its 2020 grant awards, noting that it awarded $2.2 million in three cycles in 2020, with nealy 70% going to companies in California, which has the country’s only extended producer responsibility law for carpet.

March 22, 2021: The Canadian government announced over $4.5 million Canadian in grants to reduce plastic waste from farms. The agricultural plastics stewardship group CleanFarms will receive $1.1 million to expand access to recycling programs, according to a press release. In addition, EcoEnviro Labs will receive up to $1 million to advance testing of a new organic bio-plastic mulch made from poultry feathers, Titan Clean Energy Projects will receive up to $1 million to test a food-grade bio-plastic that biodegrades more quickly, TerraVerdae Bioworks will receive up to $1 million to develop biodegradable film and injection-molded products for agriculture applications, and Red Leaf Pulp will receive up to $495,000 for a straw pulp bio-polymer.

March 16, 2021: The Foam Recycling Coalition is accepting applications for grants to support foam polystyrene packaging recycling. The group, which is part of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, has awarded over $780,000 to U.S. and Canadian communities and recycling businesses over the past six years. Applications submitted by May 28, 2021 will receive priority consideration.

March 8, 2021: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced over $1.2 million in Renew Michigan grants to support recycling in Western Michigan. The state awarded $273,000 to Innovakote West Michigan to divert powder coating waste from landfills, $267,000 to the city of Holland to support the transition from bag-based collection to cart-based collection, $200,000 to Goodwill Industries of West Michigan and Padnos Recycling and Scrap Management to help support the Ignite Reentry Program, $199,000 to the Kent County Department of Public Works to improve the quantity and quality of recovered glass and polypropylene, $133,000 to Public Thread to divert textiles, $100,000 to The Materials Group, $57,000 to the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, and $37,900 to Calhoun County. 

March 5, 2021: The Canadian government awarded four grants to small- and medium-sized companies working to reduce plastic waste. The grants, which were awarded through the Canadian Plastic Innovation Challenge, will help each of the companies develop a proof of concept. The funds went to Magemi Mining (Markham, Ontario), which is developing a durable recycled paper to serve as an alternative to plastic grocery bags; CACITH  Inc. (Montreal), which is creating a network of recyclers to quantify and find markets for scrap textiles; Met-Tech (Burlington, Ontario), which is developing a low-cost process to recycle more textile waste; and Singular Solutions (North York, Ontario), which is developing a “biosustainable additive” that will cause plastic textile waste to biodegrade.

March 1, 2021: The REMADE (Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions) Institute, a federal initiative focused on energy efficiency in U.S. manufacturing, announced it will provide $43 million to 24 research projects, many of them focused on recycling. This is the fourth round of funding from REMADE, which is funded partially through the U.S. Department of Energy and supports development of technologies that reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing by improving recycling, remanufacturing and reuse.

Feb. 22, 2021: The Glass Recycling Foundation awarded its first grant: $10,000 to support glass recycling in Erie County, Pa. According to a press release, the funds will support Prism Recycling’s drop-off pilot program in partnership with the Erie County Recycling Program, the Erie Area Council of Governments, CAP Glass Recycling and the Glass Recycling Foundation. Area haulers in 2018 announced they were removing glass from single-stream curbside collections. 

Feb. 18, 2021: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) awarded its inaugural round of recycling market development grants to four companies, which recycle glass, mixed paper and organics. According to a press release, the grants totaled $400,000. They were provided to Employment Enterprises, which will use the money to process recovered glass into a marketable sandblast grit; GreenForest Recycling, which will buy equipment to clean up mixed paper streams; Northfield Curbside Compost Cooperative, which will boost its food scraps composting capabilities and volumes; and P.E.C.E. Recycling, which will buy equipment to recycle vinyl film, cardboard cores and polypropylene drums.

Feb. 9, 2021: The U.S. EPA will provide $120,000 in grant funding for community health and resiliance projects, including those related to sustainable materials management, in the Pacific Northwest. EPA’s Region 10 will provide grants ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 each to projects in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. EPA will host informational webinars on Feb. 25 and March 3 for prospective applicants. Applications are due April 30, 2021. 

Feb. 2, 2021: The Foam Recycling Coalition awarded a $22,000 grant to help buy a foam polystyrene densifier for nonprofits groups in the Greensboro, N.C. area. According to a press release, the equipment will be housed at the Tiny House Community Development (THCD) training and recycling center. As a result of the equipment installation, four area nonprofit groups – THCD, Greensboro Beautiful, Emerging Ecology, and Environmental Stewardship Greensboro – established a foam packaging drop-off site near downtown Greensboro. 

Jan. 22, 2021: New York State will provide a $1.7 million grant to the State University of New York (SUNY) to establish a Center for Glass Innovation. The center, which will be located in Alfred, N.Y., will seek to bolster end markets for recycled glass and improve the quality of the glass stream throughout New York. The center is designed to be a “research resource for glass producers,” the first such facility in the country, according to a press release.

Jan. 13, 2021: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded nearly $600,000 to waste reduction, reuse, repair and recycling organizations. According to the DEQ, 17 organizations received money, which flowed through the department’s Materials Management program. DEQ has awarded over $9 million in materials management grants since 1991, many in economically distressed and historically underserved communities. 

Jan. 13, 2021: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is accepting applications for two separate grant programs funding waste-diversion efforts. Colorado Waste Diversion Grants fund projects anywhere in the state that divert waste from landfills and create jobs. These can include projects focusing on waste reduction, recycling, composting, repurposing, reuse or anaerobic digestion. With a total of $2 million available, individual grants can be anywhere from $25,001 to $2 million. Applications are due by 3 p.m. on March 1. The second program is more focused, covering C&D debris waste diversion in the Front Range region of Colorado. The Advancing Construction and Demolition Waste Diversion and Reduction on the Front Range grants will go to projects that divert or create end markets for C&D debris. This can include projects focused on gypsum wallboard, treated wood, reclaimed asphalt shingles, carpet tiles and construction plastic. With a total of $2.5 million available, individual grants can be anywhere from $25,000 to $700,000. Applications are due by 3 p.m. on March 15.

Dec. 17, 2020: The U.S. Department of Energy announced seven winners of Phase II of its Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize. They each receive a $357,000 cash prize and $100,000 in non-cash vouchers to use at National Labs and other organizations. The winning teams were the following: Li Industries of Blacksburg, Va.; OnTo Technologies of Bend, Ore.; Powering the Future of Glendale, Wis.; Renewance of Chicago; Smartville of San Diego; Team Portables of Seattle; and Titan Advanced Energy Solutions of Somerville, Mass. The teams will advance to the third and final phase of the competition: pilot validation.

Dec. 17, 2020: British Columbia is launching a fund to support the use of recycled plastics in manufacturing, according to a press release. The new $5 million Canadian (nearly $3.9 million U.S.) recycled plastics manufacturing stimulus fund will provide money to indigenous groups, nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, community contribution companies, co-ops and private companies that have projects that will be completed by the end of 2021. To be eligible for a grant, projects must increase British Columbia’s post-consumer resin (PCR) production capacity, increase use of PCR in manufacturing, or support PCR product research, design and testing. The program, which is part of the province’s CleanBC Plastics Action Plan, will be administered by a nonprofit group called Alacrity Foundation of BC on behalf of the British Columbia government. Grant applications are due Feb. 15, 2021.

Dec. 8, 2020: The Foam Recycling Coalition awarded a $50,000 grant to St. Lucie County, Fla., expanding polystyrene foam recycling access for local residents.

Dec. 1, 2020: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) announced a new grant program focused on funding community composting. A total of $1.35 million will be available through the Community Composting for Green Spaces Grant Program. CalRecycle has provided a $1.35 million grant to the California Alliance for Community Composting (CACC), which will work to disseminate the money to composting composting grant applicants in six regions around the state. The money comes from California’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. Applications must be submitted by Dec. 15.

Nov. 30, 2020: The nonprofit group Zero Waste Washington announced the main prize winners of the first Pacific NW Zero Waste Innovation Hackathon. According to a press release, the grand prize was awarded to a University of Oregon team that developed a plan for managing the lightly used furniture generated by the hospitality sector. Second prize went to a team at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. that developed a plan for repurposing retired electric vehicle batteries. Third prize went to a University of British Columbia team that developed a suite of potential solutions for reducing food waste. A total of 15 student teams participated in the hackathon, which provides a five-week training program with zero waste business ideas. They competed for cash prizes of up to $2,500. 

Nov. 30, 2020: The state of Michigan awarded nearly $1.6 million in grants to support recycling in Washtenaw County, which includes the city of Ann Arbor. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded $1.58 million in recycling infrastructure grants to six public and nonprofit organizations. The largest of the newly announced grants was $458,000 to the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority to purchase plastics sorting equipment and a new truck, allowing the authority to add commercial and municipal customers. The sum also includes a previously announced $800,000 grant to the nonprofit group Recycle Ann Arbor to help pay for the retrofit and reopening of the city’s MRF. The industry-led Every Bottle Back Initiative also kicked in $800,000 recently for that project.

Nov. 30, 2020: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is accepting applications for funding from the Recycled Fiber, Plastic, and Glass Grant Program. Businesses may apply for the money, which comes from the state’s greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade program. The deadline to apply for the fiscal year 2019-20 grants is Jan. 14, 2021. Last year, CalRecycle awarded nearly $12 million in program grants to five companies involved in plastics recycling.

Nov. 16, 2020: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is accepting applications for grants to help organizations increase their use of recycled materials. According to a press release, a total of $400,000 is available for this round of market-development grants. Preference will be given to projects that involve the following priority materials: glass, mixed paper, organics, PET and plastic film. In a change from previous rounds, colleges and universities are now eligible to receive the grants, according to the MPCA. Additionally, applications must also address how projects support environmental justice. Applications are due Jan. 8, 2021.

Nov. 5, 2020: Case Western Reserve University received a $2.5 million federal grant to research ways to improve plastics recycling using both chemical and mechanical processes. The grant is part of the $27 million worth of funding the U.S. Department of Energy announced last month in connection with its “Plastics Innovation Challenge.” The department is supporting the development of recycling technologies and easily recycled polymers.

Oct. 29, 2020: The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) provided a $161,000 grant to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to study the use of otherwise-landfilled plastics in pavement. The research “seeks to create high-value and high-volume products from plastic waste for bitumen (asphalt binder) replacement in pavements.” According to EREF, with 4-5% replacement of bitumen, the market has the potential to consume 1 million tons of plastics that would otherwise go to landfills each year. 

Oct. 28, 2020: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) awarded $3.2 million in grants to 269 municipalities and regional solid waste districts. The money, which came through the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP), will help support recycling, composting and waste-reduction programs, according to a press release. The funding was distributed in a couple of different ways: 227 communities qualified for payments ranging from $2,450 to $97,500 under the Recycling Dividends Program, which recognizes municipalities that implement policies and programs proven to maximine materials waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Another 42 municipalities that didn’t apply or qualify for that funding were awarded payments between $500 and $2,000 (amounts were based on population) through the Small-Scale Initiatives Grant program.

Oct. 27, 2020: The Foam Recycling Coalition provided a $50,000 grant to Collier County, Fla., allowing the local government to add foam polystyrene drop-off collection. The money will go toward buying a foam densifier, train employees, and provide community education and outreach. The county’s program will focus on receiving foam food trays, colored foam and white bulk packaging foam from local commercial businesses and residents, according to a press release

Oct. 22, 2020: The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) will provide grants to MRFs to buy equipment to effectively separate used beverage cans (UBCs). According to a press release, CMI-funded research shows that about 25% of UBCs are missorted at a typical MRF. The grant program, which will disperse money in 2021, is funded by can manufacturers Ardagh Group and Crown Holdings. For information on the program, contact CMI’s Scott Breen at [email protected].

Oct. 20, 2020: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) awarded $1 million in Recycling Market Development Program (RMDP) grants to eight public and private organizations. According to a press release, the largest grant, nearly $479,000, went to Recycling Works Inc. to help pay for upgrades to its materials recovery facility (MRF), including installing a new system feed/presort conveyor, OCC screen, glass-breaker system, medium polisher system, and optical sorters for fiber and containers. Funding for the program comes from a per-ton fee on garbage disposed of at landfills.

Oct. 15, 2020: The New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) received a $88,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to divert material from landfills in communities of 10,000 residents or fewer. The funding, which flowed through the USDA’s Rural Utilities Services, will help pay to establish reuse centers, backyard compost trainings, repair clinics and zero waste activities, according to NMRC. 

Oct. 15, 2020: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will award up to $4 million in cap-and-trade funds as grants to reduce food waste. The department will accept applications for grants of $150,000 to $300,000. Local governments, businesses, nonprofit groups, tribes and others are eligible to apply, according to a press release. The state wants to fund projects that divert usable food to people in need, reduce hunger relief costs to local governments, create “green jobs,” and help meet the statewide 2025 target to recover at least 20% of food previously landfilled. Applications are due by Nov. 20.

Oct. 8, 20202: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is accepting applications for grants to help pay for recycling coordination, education, planning and promotion projects. The applications are for matching grants to pay for projects completed in 2021. The state will reimburse up to half of the cost of eligible projects. Applications are due by 3 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 30. 

Oct. 8, 2020: The Recycling Partnership announced partnerships with 10 U.S. cities, awarding them $2.7 million in grants to educate residents and provide new lidded recycling carts. The cities, which serve 1.3 million households, are Baltimore; Detroit; Houston; Omaha, Neb.; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; San Diego, Calif.; Tacoma, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C. Representatives from those cities attended the The Recycling Partnership’s inaugural Leadership Summit in June 2019. Officials from 50 cities were invited to that event, which was sponsored in part by the PepsiCo Foundation, the Walmart Foundation and Target.

Oct. 5, 2020: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded Troy University a $3.5 million grant to fund the school’s continued research of methods to recycle personal protective equipment (PPE). The three-year grant is the third NIST has awarded to the Alabama university’s Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences. The university in April first announced the center would focus research on recycling PPE and recycling plastics into new PPE.

Oct. 1, 2020: The U.S. EPA announced it plans to award $3 million in funding to 12 organizations for anaerobic digestion projects. According to a press release, EPA will award grants to organizations in Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Boca Raton, Fla.; Bozeman, Mont.; Carlisle, Pa.; Chicago; Columbia, Mo.; Davis, Calif.; Liverpool, N.Y.; Northampton, Mass.; Oxnard, Calif.; and Pullman, Wash. The grants are part of the federal government’s Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative.

Sept. 16, 2020: Unilever brand Love Beauty and Planet launched a grants initiative awarding up to $100,000 to projects reducing carbon emissions. The brand’s grant program, which runs through the end of the year, will award between $1,000 and $20,000 for projects that improve recycling rates, reduce plastic waste and/or sequester carbon emissions, with a particular focus on projects serving marginalized and underserved communities, according to a press release. “Communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change, and to us, a more beautiful planet starts with one that is both clean and just,” the release states. Projects must be located in the U.S. Applications are currently being accepted.

Sept. 15, 2020: The New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC) received an $88,000 grant from the federal government to reduce waste in rural New Mexico. The money will help establish reuse centers, backyard composting projects, fix-it clinics and zero waste activities in towns of under 10,000 people. The grant, which is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Services Solid Waste Management Grant Program, will be matched with about $53,000 worth of in-kind support from NMRC and partners. In other Land of Enchantment news, the New Mexico Environment Department awarded over $776,000 in grants for projects related to recycling, dumpsite cleanup projects, scrap tire collection, HHW collection and more. The Recycling and Illegal Dumping (RAID) grants are funded by a fee on motor vehicle registrations. 

Sept. 14, 2020: Portland, Maine-based recycling organization Ecomaine is accepting applications for its 2020-21 round of Recycling Grants. The funds are designed to raise recycling awareness in schools and communities and to help schools fund recycling and composting projects. Any school from Ecomaine’s 70 member communities can apply through Oct. 30. 

Sept. 11, 2020: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) has provided a $5.75 million grant to establish the New York State Center for Sustainable Materials Management. The center, which will be the first of its kind in the U.S., will focus on waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting. It will be led by the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which is providing $1 million of the money to Syracuse University to conduct statewide outreach and education.

Aug. 31, 2020: For the 2020 round of funding, the Massachusetts Recycling Business Development Grant program will target the recycling of container glass, commingled recyclables, C&D debris, textiles, food scraps and mattresses. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is now accepting funding applications from recycling processors and manufacturers. Grants will be between $50,000 and $400,000 each. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 20. 

Aug. 18, 2020: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) provided a $140,000 grant to the Oregon Food Bank to divert food from landfills to people in need. The money will cover the cost of transporting and repackaging more than 2 million pounds of fresh produce from West Coast growers and processors. COVID-19 has reduced demand from restaurants and other customers, according to a press release, and without the funding, much of the food would likely be composted or disposed of in landfill.  

July 27, 2020: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and The Recycling Partnership jointly awarded $800,000 in grants to Michigan municipalities to help them reduce contamination. According to a press release, the money was awarded to 14 grantees, which represent over 300,000 households total. The money will fund both operational and educational strategies to reduce contamination. Projects will begin this summer and continue through the end of 2021.

July 24, 2020: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting applications for the 2020 round of General Materials Management grants. A total of $600,000 is available to fund projects reducing impacts across the full life cycle of materials and products. “The life cycle of materials and products includes product design, raw material extraction, manufacturing, transport, consumption, use, reuse, repair, recovery through recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion, and disposal,” according to a DEQ notice. Applications are due Oct. 2. Additionally, on July 29, Metro, a regional government that covers the Portland metropolitan area, will open its 2020 Investment and Innovation program grants. Metro expects to award up to a total of $500,000 through that program this year.

July 22, 2020: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded $125,000 in grants to repair and reuse organizations. The 2020 Workforce Development Repair and Reuse grants were awarded to 13 for-profit and nonprofit businesses around the state. Those businesses handle a variety of items, including appliances, bicycles, electronics, textiles, tools, shoes, sports equipment and more. According to a press release, the funding covers wages and benefits for new or current employees, training and equipment. “Some grantees intend to use funding to make their business model and operations more responsive to the demands of the pandemic,” the release states. 

July 7, 2020: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) awarded a dozen solid waste reduction grants totaling nearly $190,000. Awarded to cities, counties and private entities, the money will go toward funding waste-reduction education as well as recycling and composting, according to a press release. The money comes from a $1 per ton garbage tip fee. 

July 7, 2020: The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition will provide capital to help sorting facilities install equipment for PP recovery. The coalition, which is a project of The Recycling Partnership, will provide money to materials recovery facilities (MRFs) for optical sorters, robots, conveyors, or other equipment or facility improvements needed to allow the sorting and marketing of PP. In addition, some of the grant proceeds can be used to educate the public about the acceptance of PP in that community’s recycling program. According to the request for proposals (RFP), funding is currently anticipated to be capped at $500,000 per grant, not counting an additional $75,000 that can be awarded for outreach. Applicants should expect to make their own cash expenditures, and they are encouraged to seek matching grants from other sources, the document notes. Grant applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis, with no deadline to apply.

June 25, 2020: The North Carolina Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS) is offering grants to residential recycling programs that have been stopped or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The money, available to local governments and private recycling businesses, funds equipment and/or other resources to support programs, particularly those recycling materials such as paper, plastic, metals and glass. Applicants can request up to $20,000. They must provide a cash match of at least 20%. DEACS will accept applications on an ongoing basis while funding is available. Applicants should speak with a DEACS representative about viable grant projects before submitting.

June 19, 2020: Kentucky awarded nearly $4.7 million in grants to local governments to support recycling, composting and household hazardous waste management. The commonwealth’s Energy and Environment Cabinet awarded nearly $2.5 million for recycling, over $1.4 million for composting and $800,000 for household hazardous waste (HHW). Money for the grants comes from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which collects money from a $1.75-per-ton landfill tipping fee.

June 15, 2020: The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment is accepting applications from jurisdictions in the state’s Front Range region for waste diversion grants and technical assistance. The department’s Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability announced its first request for applications under the new Front Range Waste Diversion (FRWD, pronounced “forward”) program. FRWD was approved by the Colorado legislature last year. The program, which is funded by increased landfill tip fees, provides grants and technical assistance to communities to support recycling, composting and waste-reduction efforts. Applications are due Aug. 10, 2020, with written inquiries due by July 6 and July 20. 

May 20, 2020: The U.S. EPA is accepting applications for grants to fund projects aimed at diverting organics from landfills by expanding anaerobic digestion capacity in the U.S. The EPA anticipates awarding up to $3 million in total anaerobic digestion funding, with individual projects in the range of $50,000 to $300,000. Government agencies, including tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. Applications are due July 14, 2020. 

May 11, 2020: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting applications from local governments interested in hosting Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) pilot projects. The USDA will support projects that develop and test strategies for creating municipal composting and food-waste reduction plans. The USDA has $900,000 available for the efforts. Applications are due June 26, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

May 4, 2020: The ReFED program has launched a grant fund to quickly provide funding for organizations that can reduce food waste and support hunger relief. The creation of the ReFED COVID-19 Food Waste Solutions Fund comes as the pandemic has resulted in food destruction on farms, food business closures and a growing number of food-insecure people. ReFED anticipates awarding a total of at least $1 million in grants over the next 30 years, and it hopes to raise up to an additional $10 million in donations that can be awarded as grants in following months. Grants will average about $50,000 each. ReFED will consider applications on a rolling basis. The first application period ends May 18.

April 30, 2020: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is accepting applications for Sustainable Materials Recovery Program grants. Municipal governments, regional groups and nonprofit organizations can apply for the grants, which fund recycling and composting equipment purchases, mattress recycling, pay-as-you-throw programs, education and enforcement coordinators, school recycling, waste reduction enforcement, and organics capacity development. Applications can be submitted through Re-TRAC Connection through June 10. 

April 22, 2020: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is accepting applications for waste reduction grants to fund projects geared toward public education and outreach, waste reduction, composting, reuse and recycling. Local governments, schools, nonprofit organizations and businesses are eligible to apply for the Solid Waste Reduction Grants. The department’s Bureau of Waste Management will accept applications through May 15. 

April 15, 2020: The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is accepting applications for Recycling Market Development Program grants. Projects should focus on reuse, reduction and recycling, and applications can come from businesses, local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations, according to the department. Grants can range from $10,000 to $500,000, but awardees must provide a 50% cash match. Applications are due May 29, 2020. 

April 14, 2020: Two U.S. EPA regions are announcing the availability of funding. The Sustainable Materials Management Section in EPA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) will accept applications for sustainable food management or C&D debris management. Funded projects must benefit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. EPA expects to issue one to three grants totaling $100,000. The application deadline is May 1, 2020. Additionally, EPA Region 5 (Great Lakes Region) will provide funding to support market development for recycled plastics and paper, as well as funding for programs addressing food waste. The EPA anticipates awarding three to four grants totaling $100,000 to $150,000. The deadline to apply is April 30. 

March 31, 2020: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting applications for workforce development grants to support repair and reuse activities. DEQ expects to award up to $80,000 total. Applications are due Friday, June 5. 

March 27, 2020: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) awarded $15.8 million to six composting and anaerobic digestion projects around the state. CalRecycle’s acting director approved the following grants: $3 million to Pacific Recycling Solutions (doing business as Organics Solutions) for a composting project in Mendocino County, $3 million to SANCO Services for an anaerobic digestion project in San Diego County, $3 million to Northern Recycling for a composting project in Yolo County, $800,000 to the city of Manteca for an anaerobic digestion pre-processing project in San Joaquin County, $3 million to Butte County for a composting project, and $3 million to HZIU Kompogas for a composting and anaerobic digestion project in Los Angeles County. The grant money comes from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

March 23, 2020: The Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) is accepting applications for grants to purchase foam polystyrene recycling equipment. FRC, which is part of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, has awarded nearly $820,000 in grants to communities and businesses in the U.S. and Canada over the past five years, according to a press. Applications for the upcoming round of grants are due May 1 for priority consideration.

March 16, 2020: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $25 million for the development of efficiently recycled polymers and improved recycling processes. Funding is available to support R&D in two different areas: highly recyclable or biodegradable plastics, and energy-efficient recycling processes that break down plastics into intermediate chemicals, which can then be used in higher-value products. Initial applications, which take the form of a concept paper, are due April 22. Full applications are due June 18.

Feb. 26, 2020: Alameda County, Calif. public agency StopWaste is accepting applications from businesses and nonprofit groups with ideas to reduce waste. A total of $400,000 is available in grant funding. Grant categories include reuse and repair, food waste reduction, waste prevention equipment and community outreach. The deadline to apply is March 17, 2020.

Jan. 21, 2020: The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) awarded $192,000 to be spread across 24 mattress collection sites throughout California. The money will be used for infrastructure improvements or equipment purchases to increase the recyclability of discarded mattresses and box springs or to boost efficiency and improve safety, according to a press release. Examples of items and projects funded include weather coverings, cement pads, mobile loading ramps and forklift attachments to help with storage and loading.

Dec. 16, 2019: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) awarded $600,000 to 17 organizations to promote reduction, reuse and recycling. “The grants help support partnerships between community-based organizations and environmental groups; and many of the projects serve economically distressed and historically underserved communities, which supports DEQ’s commitment to environmental justice,” according to a press release. The money comes from the DEQ’s Materials Management program, which has provided over $9 million in grants since 1991.

Dec. 10, 2019: The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection awarded $40,000 in grants to help fund recycling projects statewide. “Collectively, these projects are designed to help promote community awareness about the importance of protecting our diverse natural resources through ‘reducing, reusing and recycling,'” according to a division press release. The following organizations will receive funds in 2020: Carson City School District, greenUp!, Liberty High School, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Yerington High School. The money comes from a $1 fee charged for each tire sold in the state.

Dec. 4, 2019: National nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation are accepting applications for grants to purchase recycling bins for public spaces. Online applications will be accepted through Dec. 31. This year the Keep America Beautiful/Coca-Cola Public Spaces Recycling Bin Grant Program distributed bins to 31 organizations in 19 states. 

Nov. 26, 2019: The Ohio EPA provided a $30,000 grant to Clark County, Ohio to help purchase a $40,000 polystyrene foam densifier. The county will use it to process blocks of protective foam packaging for products such as electronics and appliances but not food packaging or packing peanuts, according to the Springfield News-Sun

Nov. 23, 2019: Alabama’s Troy University received a $2.7 million grant for plastics recycling research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Last year, the university was awarded a $2.3 million NIST grant for plastics recycling research, according to WSFA News, an NBC affiliate.

Nov. 18, 2019: The Recycling Partnership has provided the city of Pittsburgh a $500,000 grant to purchase recycling carts, according to triblive.com. The city is transitioning away from blue bags for recyclables. The city has also been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Nov. 14, 2019: Nonprofit recycling and waste-to-energy organization ecomaine awarded $25,000 to schools to support landfill diversion programs. The group gave grants to 20 recipients through its 2019-20 School Recycling Grants program. “We had far more requests for funding than we’ve ever had before,” CEO Kevin Roche stated in a press release. “I’m encouraged by the thoughtfulness and enthusiasm Maine’s students and educators bring to these important projects. And I’m thrilled that ecomaine can be a part of each of them.”

Oct. 21, 2019: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is accepting applications for its state-funded market development initiative. Colorado NextCycle is an incentive program that encourages businesses to manufacturing their products using recovered materials. “Colorado NextCycle helps to identify teams with ideas for developing or improving recycling end markets in the state,” according to a press release. “It also provides a supportive atmosphere for innovative thinking, and partnership development, and nurtures viable end-market business ideas to fundable, shovel-ready status.” The department released a “jump kit” with criteria and instructions for applying to participate in the program.

Oct. 18, 2019: The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) awarded $2.2 million in funding to companies recycling scrap tires. The department provided the money to seven entities recycling crumb rubber into products including tiles, shingles and traffic cones, according to a press release. The funding flowed through CalRecycle’s Tire Incentive Program, which reimburses California businesses based on sales of products containing recycled rubber from tires, providing an incentive to them to competitively price and market their products. The money comes from a $1.75 fee consumers pay when they buy new tires.

Oct. 10, 2019: Georgia nonprofit group Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GC&B) has received a $10,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to produce reusable bags with recycling tips in multiple languages. The money will be used to manufacture what are called Green Communities bags. The tips printed on them will be designed to help reduce contamination, according to AJC.com.

Oct. 9, 2019: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) awarded $2.9 million in grants to help communities maximize recycling, composting and waste-reduction programs. The Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) funding went to 262 municipalities and regional solid waste districts, according to a press release. Of those, 219 communities qualified for funding under the “Recycling Dividends Program,” which rewards communities that have taken steps to ensure high-performing recycling and waste-reduction programs. Another 43 municipalities were awarded “Small-Scale Initiatives Grants,” which are based on population and help grantees buy recycling materials and outreach tools.

Sept. 30, 2019: The North Carolina Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) is accepting applications for 2020 Recycling Business Development Grants. Projects involving collection, processing or end use of materials in the solid waste stream are eligible for funding. Companies can receive up to $40,000 for standard projects or $60,000 for priority projects. They must provide at least a 50% cash match. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Sept. 27, 2019: The Foam Recycling Coalition gave the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) of Michigan a $50,000 grant to add a foam densifier to its materials recovery system. The equipment will allow SOCRRA to better manage drop-off EPS collection. Made up of 12 municipalities, SOCRRA provides one of only three foam PS drop-off locations in the greater Detroit area. SOCRRA will also add a bin to its MRF’s presort line to recover foam that would otherwise be disposed of as residue. 

Sept. 25, 2019: The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded the city of Newark, N.J. a $140,000 grant to fund a recycling education campaign starting this fall. The pilot project will be modeled after The Recycling Partnership’s outreach strategies used in cities across the country, according to a press release. It will include bus shelter signs, digital advertising, in-home postcards and updates to the city’s recycling website. The Recycling Partnership is working closely with the city on the campaign.

Sept. 16, 2019: Nonprofit recycling organization Ecomaine is accepting applications for its 2019-20 round of School Recycling Grants. Schools can receive up to $5,000 for their projects. A total of $25,000 is available. Applications are due Oct. 25

Sept. 12, 2019: National nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation will fund the distribution of public space recycling bins to 31 organizations around the country. The groups announced this year’s recipients of the Coca-Cola Public Space Recycling Bin Grants. The recipients included Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates, government agencies, colleges and universities and Native American tribes in 19 states. Over the past 13 years, the program has donated over 3,7000 recycling bins to communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

Sept. 10, 2019: The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) is accepting applications for grants to expand and improve mattress drop-off locations in California. The group, which operates the Bye Bye Mattress Program, will take applications for its second round of funding awards. According to a press release, the money will provide weather protection and other collection site efficiencies that lower costs and improve safety. Up to $10,000 is available per site. The deadline to apply is Nov. 15. During the first round of funding, MRC provided $120,000 to 15 collection sites. The group has over 200 sites across the Golden State where residents can drop off their mattresses and box springs for free. 

Sept. 4, 2019: The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded more recycling infrastructure grants, this time totaling $1.23 million. The department (formerly the Department of Environmental Quality) gave grants to Bay City, the Branch County Conservation District, Flint, Forgotten Harvest, Isabella County, Lansing/East Lansing cities, Orion Township, Sanilac County and the Wayne County Airport Authority. Those jurisdictions are all in the Lower Peninsula. On July 31, EGLE announced $1.5 million in grants to Upper Peninsula municipalities, and on July 29 it announced two grants totaling $1.3 million for recycling infrastructure in Northwest Michigan.

Sept. 3, 2019: Kent County, Mich. has received a $95,000 grant to support its project to develop a business park for companies that will divert materials from landfill. The county’s Department of Public Works received the grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The money will help with planning the 250-acre Sustainable Business Park, which will be located adjacent to the South Kent Landfill. 

Aug. 28, 2019: Food waste prevention grants totaling $1 million have been awarded by The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation. The seven grants, the first of their kind to be awarded by the foundation, ranged in size from $25,000 to $250,000 per project. A massive owner of grocery store chains, Kroger has committed $10 million for the grants.

Aug. 6, 2019: The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection’s (NDEP) Recycling Program has $40,000 in grant funding available for projects to support the reduction, reuse and recycling of solid waste, as well as increase public awareness about the importance of conserving natural resources. Municipalities, nonprofit organizations, school districts, the Nevada System of Higher Education and other public institutions may apply. The submission deadline is 5 p.m. on Sept. 12. The money comes from a $1 fee charged for each tire sold in the state.

July 9, 2019: Paint stewardship group PaintCare will provide $100,000 grants to two companies so they can develop their ideas for recovering difficult-to-recycle latex paint. PaintCare gave the grants to Sacramento, Calif. company Visions Recycling and Englewood, Colo. company GreenSheen. The money will help develop technologies for recycling paint in unmarketable colors or paint that’s dried or spoiled.

July 1, 2019: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will open its 2019 Materials Management grant funding round for projects that prevent, recover or reuse solid waste. The agency plans to award up to $600,000 in funding. The application period opens July 19 and closes Oct. 4.

June 11, 2019: The group Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data (ReFED) is accepting applications for its newly launched Nonprofit Food Recovery Accelerator, a project supported by the Walmart Foundation and in partnership with +Acumen, which provides leadership development training. “The Accelerator aims to catalyze ideas and inspire actions that will lead to a doubling of healthy food available to the 40 million Americans facing food insecurity,” according to a press release. Ten nonprofit food recovery groups will be selected to participate, each receiving $25,000 for participation and a travel stipend. An additional $100,000 will be awarded to one or multiple winners. Applications are due July 10.

May 14, 2019: Six grants have been awarded to reduce contamination rates around Ohio. The Recycling Partnership announced that nearly $211,000 will be provided for public education and outreach in six communities: Akron, Centerville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Fairfield and Lorain. In addition to The Recycling Partnership, participants in the project include the Ohio EPA, solid waste management districts, MRFs, haulers and cities. Waste Management, Republic Services and Rumpke MRFs are all participating and investing in the project, according to a press release.

April 25, 2019: The Recycling Partnership is currently accepting applications for grants to help launch cart-based curbside recycling in communities across the U.S. For the 2019 round, there is no minimum community size requirement and funding available is increasing from $7 per cart to $15 per cart. Additionally, if a community isn’t ready to roll out carts to all households, The Recycling Partnership will consider awarding grants for other cart-distribution approaches.

April 18, 2019: PepsiCo Recycling will provide funding to 27 colleges and universities for sustainability initiatives, including projects to support recycling. This is the third year of awards from the company’s Zero Impact Fund. PepsiCo doubled the number of grants this year. Among the initiatives highlighted in a press release were a project to install a recyclables baler at Georgia College & State University and an effort at Furman University to address food waste.

April 8, 2019: Dow and Keep America Beautiful are accepting applications from communities wanting to start Hefty EnergyBag programs. Through the programs, hard-to-recycle plastics such as multi-layer flexible packaging, foam containers, and others are deposited in orange bags collected at the curb. They are then sent to various markets for energy recovery. A total of $125,000 is available during this grant cycle. Applications will be accepted through July 12, 2019.

March 5, 2019: The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has boosted the amount of money available in recycling infrastructure grants this year. MDEQ increased total funding from $500,000 to $3.7 million. The deadline to apply is May 1.

Feb. 26, 2019: The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) provided a total of $600,000 in grants to 83 local government for the managing of scrap electronics. The money comes from fees paid to the state by electronics manufacturers selling their products in North Carolina. The money helps offset e-scrap collection and shipping costs incurred by cities and counties.

Feb. 25, 2019: The Recycling Partnership is accepting applications from recycling professionals who need financial assistance to attend the 2019 Resource Recycling Conference, which will be held in August in New Orleans. This is the fourth year of the Steve Thompson Memorial Grant program, which is offered by The Recycling Partnership in association with Resource Recycling, Inc. The grants pay for conference registration, a two-night hotel stay, and travel reimbursement up to $500. Grant applications are due by Monday, April 1.

Feb. 25, 2019: The Kroger Co. is accepting letters of intent for its food waste prevention grant program. The company, which owns grocery chains across the country, launched its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Innovation Fund. Kroger will award grants ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 per project, prioritizing emerging technologies and ideas focused on food waste prevention. A total of $1 million is available. Letters of intent are due March 4.

Feb. 19, 2019: Submissions are now being accepted for a plastics competition that will help kickstart commercialization of new materials; waste reduction and recycling efforts; and innovative product delivery systems. Focused on addressing the ocean plastics problem, the Plastics Innovation Challenge is presented by The Klosters Forum in partnership with Think Beyond Plastic Foundation. Three winners will each receive a prize of $25,000 in seed funding and a place at the 2019 Think Beyond Plastic accelerator. They’ll also be invited to present at Think Beyond Plastic’s annual Investor Forum. Applications will be accepted through April 30.

Jan. 29, 2019: The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality awarded $1.3 million in grants for litter cleanup, recycling and public education. Total funding was awarded in three categories: Public Education Awards ($827,000), Recycling Grant Awards ($424,000) and Cleanup Grant Awards ($50,000). The grant pool is generated by a fee charged to certain manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of products that commonly contribute to litter. The Columbus Telegram newspaper reported on how one of the grants will support the financially struggling nonprofit group Keep Columbus Beautiful.

Jan. 29, 2019: California is accepting applications for funding through its Recycled Fiber, Plastic, and Glass Grant Program. The program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts cap-and-trade dollars toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will take applications for the recycling grants until Thursday, Feb. 28.

Jan. 15, 2019: National stewardship group PaintCare launched its Innovative Recycling Grant Competition, created to accelerate the commercialization of technologies for reusing leftover latex house paint. The group will conduct three separate grant competitions using funding from programs operating in California, Colorado and Connecticut. The winner of each will be awarded up to $100,000 to develop their ideas. Applications are due by March 22.

Jan. 4, 2019: More than $14 million in grants have been awarded to local governments across New Jersey through the state’s Recycling Enhancement Act that’s funded by disposal tipping fees. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection allocated the funds for projects that will improve a community’s recycling rate by implementing curbside collection, increasing outreach, providing compost service, adding public-space recycling options, hiring additional staff and more.

Nov. 29, 2018: The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded $500,000 to the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) to be used in boosting recycling in that region. The money will be dispersed through a recycling infrastructure grant program, and it will provide funding for carts, MRF upgrades, collection vehicles and other core projects to expand materials recovery. Money will be allocated over the next two years. Recipients will be required to complete funded projects within 18 months of the grant agreement.

Nov. 28, 2018: The Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources awarded nearly $68,000 in grants to fund waste reduction, reuse and recycling projects, as well as efforts to boost public awareness about the importance of conserving natural resources. The money came from a $1 fee charged on tire purchases in the state. The department provided grants to six government and nonprofit organizations.

Nov. 21, 2018: The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is offering a total of $500,000 in Recycling Infrastructure Grants in 2019 for recycling programs. The money can be used by public and nonprofit organizations to transition from bins to carts; install public space recycling receptacles; create or improve drop-off depots; improve existing infrastructure; or launch recycling projects targeting schools, multi-family housing, food waste and electronic scrap. Applications are due by March 1, 2019.

Nov. 19, 2018: Since it began two years ago, a Massachusetts grant program has led to the recycling of more than 50,000 old mattresses and box springs, according to The Boston Globe. In 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection launched the Mattress Recycling incentive program, which has provided nearly $1 million to 43 municipalities to help them divert the items from landfill. Recycling is done by three state-contracted companies: Raw Material Recovery Corp., United Teen Equality Center and Ace Mattress Recycling.

Nov. 16, 2018: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is accepting letters of intent for the Colorado NextCycle program, which provides grants, coaching and data to help teams refine end-market business proposals for recycled materials. Cross-sector teams composed of manufacturers, secondary materials processors, compost operators, venture capitalists, incubators, universities or others can download a ‘jump kit’ and review instructions on the NextCycle web page. Letters of intent will be accepted through Dec. 14.

Nov. 15, 2018: National nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation are accepting applications for grants to purchase recycling bins for public spaces. Online applications will be accepted through Dec. 30. Now in its 12th year, the Keep America Beautiful/Coca-Cola Public Spaces Recycling Bin Grant Program has awarded more than 36,000 public space recycling bins. The 2018 program will distribute 4,500 bins.

Nov. 5, 2018: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection awarded more than $1 million to boost recovery of hard-to-recycle materials. The six companies receiving the grants are involved in the recycling or reuse of glass, wood, plastics and mixed recyclables. The recipients are 120 Old Boston Road Recycling Co., Aaron Industries, Casella Waste Management, JM Equipment, Champion City Recovery and United Material Management.

Oct. 5, 2018: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced it will accept applications for money to help reimburse local governments’ costs of collecting and recycling scrap electronics. A total of $900,000 is available. Applications will be accepted Jan. 1, 2019 through Feb. 28, 2019.

Sept. 27, 2018: U.S. EPA has provided an $85,000 grant to The Recycling Partnership for recycling education in Minnesota. The money will help fund the “Empowering Minnesota Residents to Recycle More and Better” project, which will provide recycling coordinators with messaging for the public and recycling literacy training. The grant came from EPA Region 5, which covers the Great Lakes region.

Sept. 17, 2018: Portland, Maine-based nonprofit recycling and waste-to-energy operation ecomaine is accepting applications for school recycling grants of up to $5,000 each. A total of $25,000 is available. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 19.

Sept. 3, 2018: The Alabama cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport have received recycling grants from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Alabama Recycling Fund, according to Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa received just over $200,00 to install collection containers for glass and other recyclables, as well as to purchase a truck and trailer. Northport received just over $92,000 to start a curbside collection program.

Aug. 30, 2018: The RecycleCT Foundation in Connecticut awarded nearly $100,000 in innovation grants to a number of public and nonprofit entities. The foundation was created by legislation in 2014, and its mission is to support education, promotion and actions that lead to increased waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting/organics recycling.

Aug. 20, 2018: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $2.6 million in recycling grants to 247 cities, towns and solid waste districts. In addition, the department unveiled a “Recycle Smart” public education effort.

July 19, 2018: The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has awarded $1.9 million to 32 recipients through the state’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund. The grants, which are funded from tip fees and other sources, have been awarded to the city of Lincoln for personnel costs and an education campaign, the University of Nevada, Lincoln Public Schools, the Lincoln-Lancaster Health Department and other entities.

July 16, 2018: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is accepting applications for 2018 materials management grants. Local governments, schools, nonprofit groups, and federally recognized tribal nations can apply for projects that promote waste prevention, reuse and recovery. The deadline is Sept. 28.

June 29, 2018: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is accepting applications for funding through its Recycling Business Development Grant (RBDG) program. The program is intended to help recycling processors and manufacturers create sustainable markets for eligible materials. For this grant cycle, those materials include container glass, commingled recycled handled by MRFs, mattresses, C&D wood and bulky rigid and plastics Nos. 3-7. The deadline for applying is Oct. 5.

June 28, 2018: The Recycling Partnership has uploaded application information for 2018 Cart Grants. The group provides $7 per recycling cart (up to $500,000) plus $1 per household for outreach (up to $50,000). Communities with more than 4,000 households are eligible. The Recycling Partnership also provides grant recipients with technical assistance and educational materials. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

June 20, 2018: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is accepting proposals for grants to fund organics management and recycling initiatives. Public and private entities may apply for grants of up to $4,000 for food scrap pilot projects or up to $30,000 for recycling and organics management projects. Applications are due Aug. 15.

June 12, 2018: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has awarded $4 million for food waste reduction and organics diversion projects. The DEC grants go to large generators of food scraps, such as supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals, allowing them to expand their ability to donate still-edible food or divert food scraps to composting and anaerobic digestion operations.

May 24: The Chittenden Solid Waste District in Vermont is accepting grant applications for projects that help create or improve markets for mattresses, tires, and/or glass aggregate from Chittenden County. A total of  $40,000 is available through the Recycling Market Development Grant program. The deadline to submit proposals is 2 p.m. on July 18.

May 21, 2018: The state of Kentucky has awarded nearly $5 million to support recycling, composting and management of household hazardous waste. The Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division of Waste Management awarded 46 recycling, five composting and 27 household hazardous waste grants. The money comes from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which gets its funding from a landfill disposal tip fee of $1.75 per ton.

May 3, 2018: More than 900 recycling bins will be installed in parks across the country this year as part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group/Keep America Beautiful Park Recycling Bin Grant Program. The program awarded 34 grants with a total distribution of 936 public space recycling bins. The funding effort is now in its sixth year.

April 17, 2018: The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC) has awarded a total of $8.5 million to municipalities to offset recycling-related costs. The money, which was awarded in 175 separate payments, covers the cost of recycling programs and equipment, as well as costs to collect and manage household hazardous waste and scrap electronics. The money was given out between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018.

April 5, 2018: The Nebraska Environmental Trust awarded funding to recycling-related projects across the Cornhusker State. Among the 2018 grant recipients was the Nebraska Recycling Council, which announced on May 3 that it had received nearly $293,000 for its “Recycling Equipment Grants and Consultation” project. Other funds will go to projects to collect and recycle electronics, purchase equipment for collecting and baling recyclables, education efforts, and more.

April 4, 2018: Hefty EnergyBag grants applications are open to municipalities, nonprofit groups, MRFs and other organizations. The deadline to apply is June 15.

March 22, 2018: California officials awarded more than $410,000 in grants for the use of scrap tires in civil engineering projects. According to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), the money will be used by four counties – Riverside, Sacramento, Santa Barbara and Tuolumne – to recycle about 666,000 tires into a tire-derived aggregate for construction projects.

March 13, 2018: PepsiCo Recycling’s Zero Impact Fund will award 19 colleges and universities up to $10,000 each to help them accomplish their environmental goals, including through recycling. The 19 schools were chosen from more than 60 applications. The program is in its second year.

Feb. 5, 2018: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has awarded nearly $1 million in business development grants to six recycling companies. The funding, provided through the Recycling Business Development Grant (RBDG) program, will go toward better processing and management of food scraps, wood and bulky plastics.

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