The Recycling Partnership Announces Opening of Latest Cart Grant Round

In its continued effort to overhaul the U.S. recycling system, The Recycling Partnership has released its latest grant request for proposals (RFP).

Geared specifically to help counties, municipalities, tribes and solid waste authorities with 4,000 or more households seeking to upgrade to cart-based curbside recycling collection, awardees will receive up to $7/cart in grant funding, tailored educational materials paired with a communications grant, and best in class technical assistance.

“This marks our third annual RFP for carts,”  Cody Marshall, the Partnership’s vice president of technical assistance said in a statement. “To date we’ve helped leverage more than $20 million worth of new infrastructure and place 400,000 new recycling carts in communities across the country. We’re pleased to take this funding to the next level, assisting even more communities.”

In a change from past grant rounds, this funding opportunity will not have a cutoff date, but instead be an open, rolling process for as long as funds are available. However, the Partnership encourages interested communities to apply as early as possible to allow ample time for preparation prior to cart launches.

Past awardees in this competitive process include such cities as St. Paul, Minn., Greenville, S.C., East Lansing, Mich., Portland, Maine, Santa Fe, N.M., Richmond, Va. and others.

“The time and effort put forth by The Recycling Partnership’s staff was really the most important part of this grant,” Shirlene Sitton, environmental services division director for the City of Santa Fe, N.M., said in a statement. “They were respectful of our timeline and budget, clearly helping us take our program to the next level. We couldn’t be happier.”

“Not only do we hope to share best management practices with our community partners, but during the process we capture new and improved best practices that can be shared with future grantees and the broader recycling community,” Marshall said.

The Recycling Partnership focuses on two key areas in the recycling industry—increasing access and reducing contamination. These grants work on both items. “Recycling roll carts can reliably capture 450 pounds of clean recyclables per household per year on average,” Marshall said. “They also bring collection efficiencies and improved worker safety. We’re eager to help more programs realize those benefits while also keeping a keen eye on ensuring contamination rates low.”

Successful applicants must provide comprehensive curbside recycling collection programs, meaning all homes that receive curbside garbage services must receive a recycling cart in order to be eligible for this grant.