IDEM grants $1M for statewide recycling projects

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has awarded eight organizations with $1 million in grant funding to expand recycling efforts in Indiana. The department says the funding comes from its Recycling Market Development Program.

IDEM says the funding will go to projects with an expected total investment of more than $3 million. The projects are expected to increase recycling for curbside recyclables, plastics, cardboard and e-waste from municipal solid waste by nearly 6,700 tons per year.

The department says recipients are located statewide and will work to expand recycling efforts through various projects.

The recipients and award amounts are listed below:

• Dearborn County Solid Waste Management District – $15,212 to purchase recycling drop boxes for collection of cardboard. The district projects a 25% growth of corrugated cardboard recycling resulting in an additional 48 tons per year.
• Elliott Co. of Indianapolis Inc., Marion County – $18,184 to conduct a research project to determine secondary use for polyisocyanurate foam, or ELFOAM, to reduce industrial waste from production. According to IDEM, the project has the potential to divert up to 500 tons of scrap waste from landfills.
• Recycling Works Inc., Elkhart County – $478,599 to upgrade their material recovery facility with a new system feed and presort conveyor, OCC screen, and glass breaker system, among others. The department says the upgrades will increase processing capacity and help divert about 435 tons of waste from landfills.
• reTHink Inc, Vigo County – $10,454 to purchase an injection mold, extruder and sheet press to up-cycle plastic materials. IDEM says the equipment will help divert up to 26,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the first year.
• Richmond Sanitary District, Wayne County – $220,000 to purchase a recycling truck and additional curbside recycling containers to expand the city’s curbside recycling program to include a source separated carboard collection.
• Rush County Solid Waste Management District – $10,050 to purchase a cardboard compactor to capture cardboard in a way that meets the increase in material while reducing the cost of transportation.
• Technology Recyclers, Marion County – $97,500 to launch a marketing and education campaign to encourage hazardous electronic-waste recycling.
• Tri-State Resource Recovery Center, Vanderburgh County – $150,000 to purchase a specialized robotic system to process polypropylene at its material recovery facility.

IDEM says the grants help foster recycling markets in Indiana and supports the growth of the state’s private recycling sector infrastructure.