Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Acting Director Pat Rice has announced the awarding of $2,006,707 in 51 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.

“The agency received many outstanding applications from across Nebraska,” Rice said. “These grant awards will support many important local efforts to recycle and protect our natural resources.”

Examples of this year’s projects include:
 

• Prairieland Dairy was awarded $63,000 to purchase a truck to be used in their food composting operation. Food waste from food processors, schools, and government agencies in the Lancaster County area will be added to dairy manure generated on site to produce up to 20 tons per week of quality compost that will be marketed by various means. Food waste is a large part of the trash deposited into landfills, according to a Waste Characterization Study conducted in Nebraska. This project will help to reduce food waste and convert it into a beneficial product.
• Keep Cass County Beautiful was awarded $39,606 to be used to provide litter awareness, litter reduction and recycling services. The training will involve six schools, various civic organizations, local governing bodies, local fairs and other venues. Keep Cass County Beautiful will provide recycling bins and cigarette litter receptacles to requesting communities. They will also be actively recruiting volunteers from across the county.
• Goodwill Industries of Greater Nebraska was awarded $39,900 for the purchase of a tractor/trailer to be used in various donation drives in outlying communities in Greater Nebraska. Once the trailer is filled, it is pulled to a Goodwill sales floor or Goodwill’s recycling center in Grand Island. Goods that cannot be resold will also be hauled from eight stores to the Grand Island recycling center and processed for shipment to other markets.

Below is a summary of the three grant categories, and grant awards in each category for 2014. 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. The following is a list of recycling grant awards for 2014:
 

Board of Regents, UNL/Sponsored Programs/Landscape Services, Lincoln, $5,094; City of Gering/Environmental Services, Gering, $100,000; City of Minatare/City Utilities, Minatare, $25,950; Four Corners Health Department, York, $8,796; Goodwill Industries of Greater Nebraska, Inc, Grand Island, $39,900; Green Recycling Enterprises, LLC DBA Second Nature Media, Omaha, $42,300; Gretna Sanitation, Inc., Gretna, $149,500; Keep Alliance Beautiful, Alliance, $28,523; Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Beatrice, $1,094; Keep Chadron Beautiful, Chadron, $4,518; Keep Columbus Beautiful, Columbus, $2,340; Keep Kimball Beautiful, Kimball, $64,285; Keep Lexington Beautiful, Lexington, $5,102; Keep North Platte-Lincoln County Beautiful, North Platte, $28,918; Keep Schuyler Beautiful, Schuyler, $15,768; Lincoln Children's Museum, Lincoln, $4,450; Middle Niobrara Natural Resource District, Valentine, $88,961; Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium/Facilities Management, Omaha, $10,000; PAKS Developmental Service/Horizon E-recycling, Ogallala, $15,000; Prairieland Dairy LLC, Firth, $63,000; Shred Monster, Inc., Columbus, $225,000; Village of Verdigre, Verdigre, $8,190; WasteCap Nebraska, Inc., Lincoln, $115,713.
 

Cleanup Grant Awards
The cleanup programs utilize Nebraska residents of all ages to 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 utilized to benefit the respective programs. The following is a list of cleanup grant awards for 2014:
 

Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Beatrice, $4,565; Keep Chadron Beautiful, Chadron, $3,017; Keep Lincoln-Lancaster County Beautiful, Lincoln, $6,400; Keep North Platte-Lincoln County Beautiful, North Platte, $33,732; Keep Omaha Beautiful, Omaha, $18,000; Keep Schuyler Beautiful, Schuyler, $400; Steinauer Community Club, Steinauer, $1,050.
 

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. The following is a list of public education awards for 2014:
 

Grand Island Area Clean Community System, Grand Island, $62,895; Keep Alliance Beautiful, Alliance, $42,470; Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Beatrice, $39,205; Keep Cass County Beautiful, Louisville, $39,606; Keep Chadron Beautiful, Chadron, $52,277; Keep Columbus Beautiful, Columbus, $25,006; Keep Fremont Beautiful, Fremont, $80,931; Keep Keith County Beautiful, Ogallala, $23,575; Keep Kimball Beautiful, Kimball, $18,839; Keep Lexington Beautiful, Lexington, $24,173; Keep Lincoln-Lancaster County Beautiful, Lincoln, $89,810; Keep Loup Basin Beautiful, Burwell, $65,196; Keep Norfolk Beautiful - NCIC, Norfolk, $19,480; Keep North Platte-Lincoln County Beautiful, North Platte, $48,226; Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful, South Sioux City, $36,980; Keep Omaha Beautiful, Omaha, $61,400; Keep Schuyler Beautiful, Schuyler, $21,339; Keep Scottsbluff-Gering Beautiful, Scottsbluff, $52,752; Keep Sidney Beautiful/Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce, Sidney, $29,509; Product Stewardship Institute, Inc., $21,625; University of Nebraska - Lincoln (Board of Regents)/Office of Sponsored Programs/Climate Masters, Lincoln, $31,847.
 

Below is a table that lists grantees by city, and provides descriptions of the projects. The table is followed by a map showing the locations of grantees.
 

(See attached file: 2014 LLRP Table - by City.pdf)
File size: 468 KB

Below is a map showing the locations of grantees.
 

(See attached file: Litter Grant Map 2014.pdf)
File size:245 KB

If you have Google Maps installed in your computer, you could view a Google Earth map showing the grant locations by clicking on the attached KMZ file:(See attached file: LitterGrantsAll4.kmz)