Northeast Ohio: Ohio EPA Grants $1.4 million for Recycling and Litter Prevention
Recipients from Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Holmes, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Tuscarawas, and Wayne counties
Ohio EPA is awarding more than $1.4 million this year in grants to 18 local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations throughout central Ohio to implement recycling, litter prevention, market development, and scrap tire recycling programs. Statewide, the Agency is issuing more than $5 million in grant funding to 89 recipients, with $3.2 million specifically for community and litter prevention programs.
Local governments and other entities use these grants for litter collection, education programming, and the disposal of scrap tires through amnesty collection events. All local cleanup efforts involve the work of volunteers and take place on public property. Some of these grants tie into a statewide litter campaign, A Little Litter is a Big Problem, announced by Governor Mike DeWine last year to prioritize and promote the conversation around litter in Ohio.
Projects approved for funding (rounded down to the nearest dollar) include:
| Aluminum Cans for Burned Children | $55,851 | Purchase box truck and wrap for recycling events |
| Avon Lake (Lorain County) sponsoring Geon Performance Solutions | $160,228 | Purchase of recycling equipment |
| Brecksville (Cuyahoga County) | $35,887 | Purchase of a new Bobcat skid steer |
| Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District sponsoring Waste Management | $200,000 | Purchase a glass cleaner system and glass breaker system |
| `Elyria (Lorain County) | $96,150 | Purchase chipper, pick-up truck, and recycling equipment |
| Holden Forests and Gardens (Lake County) | $60,000 | Construct compost bays to recycle organic materials |
| Holmes County General Health District | $6,800 | Litter clean-up events |
| Keep Euclid Beautiful (Cuyahoga County) | $3,300 | Litter collection and Keep America Beautiful renewal |
| Lake-Geauga Habitat for Humanity (Lake and Geauga counties) | $100,000 | Purchase two box trucks for recycling events |
| Lorain County Solid Waste Management District | $300,000 | Purchase shredder, portable sidewall cutter, alligator shears, mulch shredder, and other equipment for scrap tire events |
| Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District | $100,000 | Purchase shredder, auger, biofilter, and other recycling equipment |
| Portage County Solid Waste District | $174,423 | Purchase a recycling collection truck |
| Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority (Portage County) | $64,190 | Litter cleanup, outreach, and education supplies |
| Roaming Shores (Ashtabula County) | $18,299 | Improvements to composting site |
| Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District (Stark, Tuscarawas, and Wayne counties) | $44,800 | Outreach and education curriculum to help reduce contamination while recycling |
| Wayne County Farm Bureau | $21,571 | Tire amnesty collection program |
| Youngstown (Mahoning County) | $24,250 | Litter cleanup, tire amnesty program, KAB renewal, and outreach and education supplies |
Community and Litter Grants are available to local governments, parks or health departments, state colleges and universities, solid waste authorities, and nonprofit organizations or Keep America Beautiful communities to support and expand community recycling and litter prevention efforts. Market Development Grants assist businesses that purchase equipment and infrastructure for successful markets of recyclable materials and related products. Scrap Tire Grants provide financial assistance to Ohio’s businesses, communities, and nonprofits seeking to convert manufacturing operations into facilities that accept scrap tire material, expand tire processing, or use scrap tire material in construction projects or manufactured products. Academic Institution Grants are available to public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities for recycling efforts as well as outreach and education, recycling equipment, and conference sponsorships.
For additional information about the grant programs, contact Marie Barnett at Ohio EPA at Marie.Barnett@epa.ohio.gov, or online: www.recycleohio.gov.
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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.
