NDEE Awards $761,545 in Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants
News Release
NDEE Awards $761,545 in Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced the department awarded $761,545 in grants to 20 recipients through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund. For 2019, the department received requests for nearly $2.2 million in eligible grant applications.
These awards represent funding for six months. Beginning in 2020, Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grants will be awarded on a calendar year, and funding will be for 12 months.
The Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund is generated by a fee on solid waste disposed of in landfills, an annual retail business sales fee, and a fee assessed on the sale of new tires for motor vehicles. The grants are provided to local integrated waste management projects including: recycling systems, household hazardous waste collection programs, transfer stations, and yard waste composting. Tire fee grants totaling nearly $968,000 for projects related to tire recycling were previously announced in July: https://dee.nebraska.gov/news-events/press-releases/ndee-announces-tire-recycling-grant-recipients
The table below provides a list of all 2019 grantees by city, and includes the amount awarded and a description of the projects receiving grant support.
| Town | Applicant name | Award | Project description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance | Keep Alliance Beautiful | $61,006 | Funds to operate the Alliance recycling center and provide waste reduction and recycling education programs for residents of Alliance, Box Butte County, and the surrounding area. |
| Chadron | Keep Chadron Beautiful | $3,186 | Funds toward a one-day electronic waste recycling event for residents of Chadron and surrounding communities. |
| Chadron | Keep Chadron Beautiful | $25,877 | Funding to collect recyclable office paper and cardboard from offices, businesses, and individuals in Chadron. Nearly 94 tons of cardboard and paper were diverted from the landfill last year. |
| Fremont | Keep Fremont Beautiful, Inc. | $20,225 | Hold a one-day household hazardous waste collection event, one all metals market drop-site collection event, and provide recycling opportunities at public events for Fremont and Dodge County. |
| Grand Island | Grand Island Area Clean Community System | $61,562 | Funds to operate the Betty Curtis Household Hazardous Waste Facility in Grand Island, serving Hall, Hamilton, Howard, Merrick, and Adams Counties. |
| Kimball | Keep Kimball Beautiful | $10,212 | Funds to increase recycling by providing collection services to rural residents and businesses. Also provide residential alley recycling collection and recycling trailers for local towns and events. |
| Lexington | Lexington Area Solid Waste Agency | $16,964 | Hold three household hazardous waste collection events within a 10-county area in central Nebraska. |
| Lincoln | City of Lincoln – Solid Waste Management Division | $93,965 | Funding for year three of the public education Recycling Right program for proper disposal of cardboard and recyclables. |
| Lincoln | Keep Nebraska Beautiful | $21,882 | Funding for three statewide programs: 1) Nebraska Materials Exchange – saved landfill space by recycling nearly 5,500 tons of materials last year; 2) Nebraska Food Waste Reduction Program – encourage diversion of food from landfills through composting; and 3) Nebraska Waste Oil Collection Program – collected over 92,000 gallons of oil in 2018. |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Public Schools | $17,051 | Continue established recycling and composting programs in Lincoln schools. Expect to divert 700,000 pounds of recyclables and 720,000 pounds of cafeteria waste during the six-month period while expanding composting programs to more schools. |
| Lincoln | Nebraska Recycling Council | $40,000 | Create an online recycling community tool kit for elected leaders, solid waste management professionals, and environmental advocates in rural communities to achieve better recycling outcomes. Continue Hub & Spoke work in northeast and north central Nebraska. |
| Lincoln | Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department | $95,000 | Funds to operate Lincoln’s household hazardous waste facility, the HazToGo marketing plan, and toxics reduction education (including a green cleaning kit project) for residents of Lancaster County. |
| Louisville | Keep Cass County Beautiful | $1,006 | Advertising, educational materials, personnel, and travel expenses for two electronic waste recycling events in Cass County. |
| McCook | Red Willow County | $80,000 | Hold a minimum of 21 collection events and 10 pick-ups/disposals to collect and properly dispose of $125,000 pounds of household hazardous waste. |
| Nebraska City | City of Nebraska City | $7,500 | Funds to rent a tree grinder to process trees, brush, and yard waste. Mulch will be used at the Arbor Day Farm, local orchards, and city parks. |
| Oakland | Nebraska Loess Hills RC&D | $6,500 | Hold an electronic waste collection event in Homer for residents of Burt, Cuming, Dodge, Dakota, Thurston, and Washington counties. Expect to collect 16,000 pounds of electronic waste. |
| Oakland | Nebraska Loess Hills RC&D | $14,709 | Hold three household hazardous waste (HHW) events in Wisner, Oakland, and Dakota City to serve Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dodge, Thurston, and Washington counties. Expect to collect 27,500 pounds of HHW. |
| Omaha | City of Omaha – UnderTheSink HHW Facility | $171,875 | Year four of a five-year grant for Omaha’s UnderTheSink household hazardous waste facility serving Douglas and Sarpy counties. |
| Thedford | Upper Loup Natural Resources District | $6,230 | Funds to purchase a recycle trailer to be kept in the Village of Purdum. Will transport paper and cardboard monthly to Thedford, and then on to Broken Bow. Residents are currently burning these materials or sending them to the landfill. |
| Wayne | City of Wayne | $6,795 | Hold one electronic waste collection vent to clean up approximately 20,000 pounds of electronic waste from Wayne and surrounding areas. |