Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced the award of $6,011,940 in grants to support 161 projects across the state. These grants will help fund litter and waste reduction projects, recycling programs, and pay costs for scrap tire cleanups, and collections for household hazardous waste, electronic waste, and pharmaceuticals.
“There were many outstanding applications submitted to NDEE this year,” Macy said. “These grants will assist many important local efforts to promote litter and waste reduction, and help handle the costs of proper disposal of many materials, such as household hazardous waste and scrap tires.”
Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive funds are 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. Grants are provided to local integrated waste management projects, and can include recycling systems, household hazardous waste collections, and composting. For 2020, 33 projects totaling $2,415,029 were funded under the Business Fee, Disposal Fee, and Deconstruction of Abandoned Buildings categories.
Also included in the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive program are the Scrap Tire funds, which are generated from a $1 fee on new tires purchased in Nebraska. In 2020, 77 grants totaling $1,856,735 were awarded. The grants will fund 33 scrap tire cleanup events across Nebraska. Enough funding was awarded to clean up 5,171 tons of scrap tires. Funds will also be used to partially reimburse the cost equipment to process scrap tires and help fund many products made from recycled scrap tires, such as artificial turf football and soccer fields, athletic running tracks, and playground surfacing.