CDPHE announces the Front Range Waste Diversion program’s 10th grant cycle to support Front Range projects on waste diversion, the process of diverting and redirecting waste from landfills. The grant opportunity provides up to $500,000 of total funding to support short-term small-scale projects that contribute to Front Range waste diversion. Applicants may request between $20,000 and $50,000 in funding.
“Our board is committed to practical sustainability and tangible impacts. As we launch our tenth round of funding, our grants are more than financial support — they’re catalysts for real change that will help transform waste challenges into community-driven solutions in the Front Range,” said Suzanne Jones, chair of the Front Range Waste Diversion Board of Directors. “Together, we’re creating a future in which every discarded item represents an opportunity for waste diversion, a circular economy, and a more sustainable future for Colorado.”
Eligible grant applicants include municipal, county, and Tribal governments, educational institutions, as well as nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Projects must directly impact at least one of the following Front Range counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo, Teller, or Weld County. Projects must divert waste from Colorado landfills through waste diversion, reduction, or elimination practices, including the elimination of waste before it happens, reuse, recycling, composting, or the creation of end markets.
Since Front Range communities contribute approximately 85% of the state’s waste, active participation from businesses, organizations, and local governments in this region is crucial to reaching the state’s waste diversion targets. Prospective applicants for this round of funding must attend one of four virtual question-and-answer sessions to be eligible to apply. Front Range Waste Diversion program staff will take attendance at each session, and only the interested parties that have attended a session will be able to access to the application portal. Applications will be due no later than 3 p.m. on March 8.
Since its inception in 2020, the Front Range Waste Diversion program has awarded nearly $18 million to 47 grant recipients. The program’s mission is to provide grants and technical assistance to support projects that create, advance, or expand recycling or compost collection, material processing, remanufacturing, or waste diversion policy on the Front Range, with the goal of reducing the amount of waste going to Colorado landfills.