$2.5 Million Awarded to Recycling, Litter Programs
News Release
$2.5 Million Awarded to Recycling, Litter Programs
Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Jim Macy has announced the awarding of $2,491,087 in 57 grants for litter cleanup, recycling, and public education programs and activities. Funds for the Litter Reduction and Recycling Grant Program are generated from a fee charged to certain manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of products that commonly contribute to litter. The program has been providing grants annually since 1979.
“There were many outstanding applications submitted to NDEQ this year,” Macy said. “The grant awards will support many important local efforts to recycle and reduce litter across the state.”
Below is a summary of the three grant categories, and grant awards in each category. Following that summary is a table that lists all projects by city, and provides more details regarding the purpose of each grant.
Recycling Grant Awards
The recycling programs provide an alternative to the disposal of solid waste in Nebraska’s landfills. The programs recycle more than just aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic. Materials such as electronic computer components, paint, aerosol cans, fertilizer, pesticides, pharmaceutical items and household hazardous waste are collected and either reprocessed to be used again or are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. Recycling efforts that promote the purchase of recycled content products continue to receive priority for funding. NDEQ awarded 26 grants in the recycling category, totaling $1,326,206.
Cleanup Grant Awards
Cleanup grants provide assistance for programs involving Nebraska residents of all ages who pick up litter and debris along Nebraska's highways, waterways, recreation lands, urban areas, and other public use areas within the state. Not only are the public areas improved through the removal of litter and debris, but also much of the material collected during the cleanups is recycled. The recycling proceeds are often used to benefit the respective programs. NDEQ awarded 11 grants in the cleanup category, totaling $126,986.
Public Education Awards
The Public Education programs educate citizens in the areas of litter reduction, cleanup, and recycling through a variety of individual and community activities. Priority is given to programs that promote markets for recycled materials or purchasing products made from recycled materials. NDEQ awarded 20 grants in the public education category, totaling $1,037,895.
Attached is a table that lists grantees by city, and provides descriptions of the projects.
2017 Litter Reduction and Recycling Grants, by City
| City | Organization | Program Category | Amount Awarded | Project Description |
| Alliance | Keep Alliance Beautiful | Public Education | $56,817 | Fund several community and school educational programs to increase recycling. |
| Alliance | Keep Alliance Beautiful | Recycling | $76,918 | Fund public education programs and operate the recycling center in Box Butte County. |
| Alma | City of Alma | Recycling | $2,180 | Install fence to keep litter from blowing onto the hiking/biking trail and into Harlan County Lake. |
| Beatrice | Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Inc. | Cleanup | $8,295 | Clean up 100 miles and 60 acres. |
| Beatrice | Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Inc. | Public Education | $44,949 | Litter and recycling education via advertising and presentations to civic and community organizations and schools. |
| Belvidere | Trailblazer Resource Conservation and Development | Recycling | $25,035 | Hold seven household hazardous waste collection events in seven communities/counties over two weekends. |
| Burwell | Loup Basin RC&D Council/Keep Loup Basin Beautiful | Public Education | $79,146 | Continuation of litter prevention and recycling education for schools and communities in a nine -county area. |
| Chadron | Keep Chadron Beautiful | Cleanup | $6,197 | Clean up 100 miles. |
| Chadron | Keep Chadron Beautiful | Public Education | $60,632 | Continuation of litter and recycling education programs for schools and participate in community events. |
| Chadron | Keep Chadron Beautiful | Recycling | $7,100 | Conduct a one-day electronic waste collection event. |
| Columbus | Keep Columbus Beautiful, Inc. | Public Education | $29,082 | Public education and services to increase recycling and prevent litter through local schools and community events. |
| Crete | Public Health Solutions | Public Education | $17,480 | Develop and publish 2,500 resource guides (recycling, waste disposal, material exchange, used donations) for five southeast Nebraska counties. |
| Fremont | Keep Fremont Beautiful | Public Education | $73,100 | Funds to provide comprehensive education programs for the community and from pre-K to college levels to reduce litter and increase recycling. |
| Grand Island | Grand Island Area Clean Community System | Cleanup | $39,051 | Clean up 125 miles and 100 acres. |
| Grand Island | Grand Island Area Clean Community System | Public Education | $65,682 | Fund a variety of programs to reduce litter and increase recycling in the community. |
| Gretna | City of Gretna | Recycling | $43,455 | Purchase a brush chipper to produce chips for city landscaping. |
| Hastings | Woodwards Disposal Service, Inc | Recycling | $86,148 | Truck chassis with rear load and hopper to collect cardboard, newspaper, and office paper through curbside recycling and commercial pickups. |
| Kearney | University of Nebraska at Kearney | Recycling | $22,973 | Purchase a two-cubic-yard compactor and 40-cubic-yard receiver box with hook to hold recyclables collected on the UNK campus. |
| Kimball | Keep Kimball Beautiful | Public Education | $25,300 | Support of programs in Kimball schools and continue community-wide recycling education. |
| Kimball | Keep Kimball Beautiful | Recycling | $73,710 | Operating expenses for the Kimball Recycling Center for Kimball County residents. |
| Lexington | Keep Lexington Beautiful | Public Education | $32,934 | Continue weekly recycling education program in four elementary schools and one middle school; tailored for diverse (40-country) student body. |
| Lexington | Keep Lexington Beautiful | Recycling | $9,791 | New signs for four recycling trailers, and new paint for two of them. |
| Lincoln | Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department | Cleanup | $19,000 | Clean up 240 miles and 700 acres. |
| Lincoln | Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department | Public Education | $121,366 | Education programs to encourage appropriate waste management practices throughout the community. Purchase 10 ashtray receptacles and four recycling containers. |
| Lincoln | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Public Education | $15,356 | Establish "Improving Recycling and Composting Education through Participation" project. Purchase 5,000 aluminum water bottles and reusable bags for students attending two UNL programs. |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Children's Museum | Public Education | $5,450 | Funding for "Green Halloween." Purchase recycled trick or treat bags and recycle bins for the Museum. |
| Lincoln | Solid Waste Management | Recycling | $170,710 | 150' x 50' x 10" concrete pad and used excavator to better handle and divert 15-20,000 tons of asphalt roof shingles from the Bluff Road Landfill. |
| Lincoln | Nebraska Farmers Union | Recycling | $40,000 | Used tractor and mixer trailer to chop up larger pieces of organic material (corn cobs) to make larger amounts of compost. |
| Lincoln | WasteCap Nebraska | Recycling | $125,790 | Work with businesses and the community to provide educational outreach technical assistance for zero-waste activities. Purchase two computers. |
| Louisville | Keep Cass County Beautiful | Cleanup | $1,500 | Clean up 14 miles and 80 acres. |
| Louisville | Keep Cass County Beautiful | Public Education | $59,215 | Educate Cass County citizens and students about litter prevention, recycling, waste management, and composting. Continue "loan a bin" recycling program. |
| Morrill | Village of Morrill | Recycling | $33,900 | Purchase a wood chipper to trim trees near power lines in Morrill. Mulch will be used for landscaping, golf courses and parks. |
| Norfolk | Keep Norfolk Beautiful | Public Education | $21,670 | Recycling education programs in the schools and community of Norfolk. |
| North Platte | Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful | Cleanup | $17,443 | Clean up 320 miles. |
| North Platte | Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful | Public Education | $85,909 | Continue community recycling programs and increase participation through education. |
| North Platte | Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful | Recycling | $34,428 | Administer programs to increase the collection of recyclables, e-waste, and potential household hazardous waste from Lincoln County for proper disposal and reuse. |
| Ogallala | Keep Keith County Beautiful, Inc. | Cleanup | $3,000 | Clean up 60 miles. |
| Ogallala | Keep Keith County Beautiful | Public Education | $84,210 | Educate residents and visitors on litter reduction and to increase recycling in Keith County. Expand to Arthur, Deuel, Grant and Perkins Counties. |
| Ogallala | Keep Keith County Beautiful, Inc. | Recycling | $43,964 | Purchase four recycling containers to add to the collection system at Lake McConaughy. |
| Omaha | Keep Omaha Beautiful | Cleanup | $18,000 | Online follow-up survey of volunteers. Clean up 20 miles. |
| Omaha | Keep Omaha Beautiful | Public Education | $71,000 | Conduct community outreach and classroom activities on recycling and litter reduction. |
| Omaha | Habitat for Humanity of Omaha Inc. | Recycling | $53,934 | Purchase a box truck to increase ability to pick up donations for two ReStores in Omaha. |
| Omaha | Angels on Wheels | Recycling | $82,200 | Hold 22-23 strategically located electronic collection events in the Metro Omaha area. |
| Schuyler | Keep Schuyler Beautiful | Recycling | $40,033 | Fund expenses to operate the Colfax Co. Recycling facility for residents of Schuyler and Colfax County. |
| Scottsbluff | Keep Scottsbluff Gering Beautiful | Cleanup | $10,000 | Clean up 100 miles. |
| Scottsbluff | Keep Scottsbluff Gering Beautiful | Public Education | $25,333 | Funding for community recycling/anti-littering programs for Scottsbluff and Gering. |
| Scottsbluff | Keep Scottsbluff Gering Beautiful | Recycling | $47,530 | Fund two pharmaceutical take-back events and other recycling projects. |
| Sidney | Keep Sidney Beautiful | Recycling | $43,554 | Public education to reduce litter in the community and decrease recyclable items going to the landfill. |
| South Sioux City | Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful | Public Education | $63,264 | Public education in the community and schools to reduce litter, including waterway litter, and promote recycling. |
| Springfield | Soil Dynamics Composting Farm Inc. | Recycling | $47,500 | Food waste garbage truck, to be modified to pull a garbage can washing system trailer to collect food waste from Louisville schools. |
| Steinauer | Steinauer Community Club | Cleanup | $500 | Clean up 10 miles. |
| Tekamah | Papio Missouri River NRD | Recycling | $24,500 | Conduct four electronic waste collection events to be held in: Washington, Burt, Thurston, and Dakota counties. |
| Valentine | Middle Niobrara NRD | Recycling | $100,215 | Trailer with spreader to increase amount of woody biomass chips applied on fields and tree rows. Tree removal will increase grazing and grassland, and reduce fire risk. |
| Verdigre | Village of Verdigre | Recycling | $7,350 | Funds to manage the recycling program for Verdigre, and parts of Knox, Holt, and Boyd counties. |
| Wakefield | ESU#1 | Cleanup | $4,000 | Cleanup 20 miles and 300 acres. |
| Wisner | City of Wisner | Recycling | $51,188 | Fund 48' x 60' concrete slab, perimeter blocks and fabric hoop building cover to store wood chips for gasifier equipment and recycled cardboard. |
| York | Four Corners Health Department | Recycling | $32,100 | Hold a one-day household hazardous waste collection event in Seward and in York counties. |