Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Mike Linder today announced the awarding of $1,692,426 in grants for waste reduction and recycling projects. The grants are available through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund. This fund is generated by a fee on solid waste disposed of in landfills (disposal fee), an annual retail business sales fee (business fee), and a fee assessed on the sale of new tires for motor vehicles (tire fee). Tire fee grants totaling $1.86 million for projects related to tire recycling were previously announced in May.

Examples of 2012 grant recipients include:
 

• The Lexington Area Solid Waste Agency was awarded $22,121 to hold seven Household Hazardous Waste Collection events this fiscal year. These collection events will include electronics waste. The collection events in the project will reduce the total amount of waste that ends up in landfills, reduce improper disposal of hazardous and/or toxic waste, and provide the public with a reliable and accessible method for disposing of hazardous waste.
• The Habitat for Humanity – Omaha ReStore was awarded $28,995. The Habitat for Humanity reuse store in Omaha has been so successful in diverting good used building materials from landfills that they have opened a second store in Omaha. Habitat for Humanity will use the grant award to purchase a truck and forklift for use in loading and unloading donated material in their new reuse store. The proceeds from sales made in these two stores go directly to the building of more decent and affordable Habitat for Humanity homes in Douglas and Washington Counties.
• The Village of Verdigre was awarded $9,504. This award will enable the Village of Verdigre to add new activities, which will increase the volume and types of material recycled throughout the western Knox County area. These new activities include a web page and Facebook presence created by the high school computer class, promotion of regional recycling events, and coordination of special recycling activities.

Below is a list of all 2012 grants awarded in the business fee and disposal fee categories:

BUSINESS FEE - $775,965 was awarded to 15 public, private, or non-profit organizations.
 

• G7 Innovations, Inc, dba PC Recycling, Omaha, $129,646 to host 12 community collection events throughout Nebraska. Materials include electronics, appliances and batteries.
• Grand Island Area Clean Community System, Grand Island, $33,151 for Hazardous Household Waste permanent facility.
• Gretna Sanitation Inc, Gretna, $54,067 for the purchase of a used wheel loader to compost yard waste.
• Habitat for Humanity, Omaha, $28,995 for the purchase of a used 16-foot box city van for picking up donated materials, and a narrow aisle reach truck to move materials within a second ReStore.
• Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities, Omaha, $83,100 for “Net Zero Waste Template” for communities.
• Keep Columbus Beautiful, Columbus, $12,313 to host one household hazardous waste collection event for citizens of Columbus and Platte County. Items collected include household hazardous waste and latex paints.
• Keep Fremont Beautiful, Fremont, care of Midland University, $25,884 to host a one-day household hazardous waste collection event in Fremont for the citizens of Fremont, Arlington, Inglewood and Dodge County.
• Keep Kimball Beautiful, Kimball, $22,762 for the purchase of a shredder and to finance the Keep Kimball Beautiful program.
• Nebraska Loess Hills Resource Conservation and Development, Lyons, $16,084 to host three household hazardous waste collection events in the Nebraska Loess Hills RC&D Inc. area. These events will be held at Bancroft, Dakota City/South Sioux City and Decatur.
• Nebraska Loess Hills Resource Conservation and Development, Lyons, $1,250 for an electronics collection event.
• Nebraska State Recycling Association, Omaha, $140,081 for FilterPave glass paving projects.
• Nebraska State Recycling Association, Omaha, $117,150 for a recycling study.
• SectorNow, LLC, Lincoln, $31,036 to expand its waste assessment software, develop a hospitality industry module, to include hazardous waste materials and hazardous waste handling assessment, and add a GPS-driven waste resource directory based on WasteCap NE’s environmental service providers guidebook.
• Trailblazer Resource Conservation and Development, Red Cloud, $20,029 for household hazardous waste collections in a six-county area –Clay, Thayer, Nuckolls, Webster, Franklin and Harlan counties.
• WasteCap Nebraska, Lincoln, $60,417 for a Sustainable Business Certification pilot program.

DISPOSAL FEE - $916,461was awarded to 16 counties, municipalities, and agencies. Funding is available to political subdivisions only.
 

• City of Lincoln Public Works and Utilities, $20,868 for public education.
• City of Omaha, Environmental Quality Division, $280,000 for Under-the-Sink Permanent Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
• Four Corners Health Department, York, $15,645 to host three household hazardous waste collection events in York, Seward and Butler counties. Includes latex paint, lead-acid batteries, fluorescent bulbs, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and computers.
• Lexington Area Solid Waste Agency (Lexington), $22,121 for seven household hazardous and electronics waste collection events in the area. The collection events will include electronics waste.
• Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, $13,292 for 50% of salary of LPS recycling coordinator for one year. This position will maintain waste stream databases; expand volume and variety of materials recycled; educate students, staff, and the public about recycling through newsletters and website.
• Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, $111,255 to host five to eight household hazardous waste collection events, and two CESQG collections in the Lincoln, Lancaster County area. Program activities include a continued state-wide promotion of the electronics "Hazard-Free Home Handbook".
• Nemaha Natural Resources District, Tecumseh, $35,568 to host nine household hazardous waste collections events in a seven county area, which includes Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson and Saline counties. Includes batteries and paint.
• Nemaha Natural Resources District, Tecumseh, $26,900 to purchase a brush chipper for use with invasive woody vegetation within the Nemaha NRD area.
• Omaha Public Power District, $55,500 for the third year of the refrigerator recycling program for consumers living in the OPPD service area.
• Otoe County Roads Department (Nebraska City), $93,056 for the purchase of a compact track loader, mulching head attachment and trailer. Equipment will be used to grind and mulch brush and small trees in Otoe County road ditches. (Two year grant.)
• Red Willow County (McCook) $105,950 to host 40 household hazardous waste collection events in Nebraska, collecting household hazardous waste, computers, paint, batteries, and fluorescent bulbs.
• Seward/Saline County Solid Waste Management Agency, Goehner, $7,972 to purchase a recycling bin trailer for use by citizens of Beaver Crossing and the surrounding rural area.
• Solid Waste Agency of Northwest Nebraska (SWANN), Chadron, $28,032 to purchase four roll-off boxes used to recycle cardboard collected in the SWANN area.
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Departments of Biological Systems Engineering & Civil Engineering), $54,998 to combine the environmental management experience of UN-L’s Pollution Prevention Program and the innovative manufacturing expertise of the UN-L Non-Traditional Manufacturing group to provide waste-reduction assistance to at least ten Nebraska businesses.
• University of Nebraska-Omaha (Board of Regents), $35,800 for supplies to conduct training on waste management within a sustainable facility. Will also cover waste metrics and waste management initiatives. Up to 50 facility managers, directors, architects, designers, safety engineers, and product/service suppliers will be trained within a 12-month period through UNO’s College of Business Administration.
• Village of Verdigre, $9,504 for new activities which will increase the volume and types of materials recycled. Funding will provide promotion, coordination and management of recycling activities throughout the western Knox County area.