Sneak Preview: Comments Sought on Recycling Ed Grant Program, Toolkit
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking comments from stakeholders on its plan to implement a new Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach program authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58), along with a related Model Recycling Program Toolkit.
The grant program aims to fund improvements to the effectiveness of residential and community recycling programs, including those that tackle waste prevention, through public education and outreach. The toolkit will help governmental entities inform the public about residential waste prevention (e.g., source reduction, reuse, refurbishment, repair, composting) and residential or community recycling programs to improve collection rates and decrease contamination.
“EPA is seeking information about effective strategies to reach consumers and encourage them to engage in activities that reduce the generation of waste, improve effective recycling and reduce contamination in the recycling stream,” the agency said in a recent Federal Register request for information (RFI). The RFI is one of several that the agency will issue as it develops new IIJA programs. Another recent one addresses the new Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant program, which was authorized under IIJA, and the Development of Best Practices for Collection of Batteries to be Recycled and Voluntary Battery Labeling Guidelines.
Attempts to effectively recycle materials nationwide now face several challenges, including confusion about what materials can be recycled and how the contamination of recyclable materials results in those materials being sent to landfills. Preventing waste and increasing recycling reduces the climate, environmental and social impacts (pollution, health, economics) of materials used, and keeps valuable resources in use instead of in landfills.
IIJA provides $15 million per year for five years for EPA to administer the Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach grant program. Eligible recipients are states, local governments, Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, nonprofits and public-private partnerships. Grant funds may be used for numerous activities, which include: public service announcements; door-to-door education and outreach campaigns; social media outreach; advertising campaigns on recycling awareness; the development and dissemination of information on the importance of quality in the recycling stream, and the economic and environmental benefits of recycling; and information on what happens to materials after they are placed into a residential or community recycling program.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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