Arizona Agency Awards More than $500k to Boost Recycling

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has awarded more than $500,000 to various municipal and public sector entities to boost recycling. The announcements were made this month.

The grant money is part of ADEQ's Waste Reduction Assistance grants program, which funds projects devoted to waste reduction, recycling and composting in the state.

The list of grant recipients are the following:

Bullhead City will receive $25,000 for a new recycling drop-off program which will include three collection trailers. The city is partnering with Allied Waste and Sam's Club/Wal-Mart to implement this project. The funds will be used to purchase three recycling collection trailers.

In addition, Bullhead City will receive $2,500 to promote the new recycling program through schools, cable advertising and direct mailing to all residents.

The City of Peoria will receive $200,000 to implement a citywide automated curbside recycling program to an estimated 45,500 households. The funds will be used to purchase recycling barrels for residential use. The goal is to recycle at least 15 percent of material that would normally end up in the solid waste stream.

In addition, Peoria will receive $61,728 to launch an automated commingled citywide recycling program for multi-family dwellings. The program will deliver tote bins and 300-gallon barrels to multi-family dwellings.

Peoria also will receive $60,000 to promote the new programs through school presentations, advertisements, newsletters, mailers, special event booths, an instructional video and block parties.

The City of Litchfield Park will receive $45,375 to implement an educational outreach campaign targeting school children, local businesses and residents through public event appearances, advertising and school presentations. Litchfield Park will host a poster/slogan recycling contest for children, set up booths at special public events and create newspaper and television advertisements to educate residents about a new curbside recycling program.

The city of Tucson has been awarded $78,000 to fund recycling in Pima County.

Tucson will use the grant to hold 12 one-day community household hazardous waste and computer equipment collection events throughout the 2008 fiscal year at six different locations in the Tucson area. Six more one-day collection events will be held at the Tucson Water Plant.

Arizona State University's Office of Research and Sponsored Projects in Tempe will receive $98,999 for a project to recycle construction debris containing plant cellulose into ethanol to be used as fuel. The program will collect construction debris in designated waste receptacles. The construction debris will then be converted to ethanol and other byproducts at Genahol-San Tan, LLC in Casa Grande.

The goal of the program is to divert 80 tons a day of construction debris from landfills.

Under another grant, Mesa Community College will receive $46,020 to increase the scope of its curbside commingled recycling program by expanding recycling to encompass all campus buildings, providing recycling locations along public walkways and establishing used battery and light bulb collection sites on campus. This project will create two positions to coordinate the program. MCC will partner with the City of Mesa to obtain more than 150 collection bins.

Cochise County has been awarded $60,000 to fund recycling in the county. The grant will fund a study on recycling in general with a special concentration on establishing a permanent county facility to recycle electronic equipment and construction and demolition debris.

The city of Phoenix's Public Works Department will receive $141,000 to implement a Special Events Recycling program, which will divert from the landfill much of the solid waste materials collected at 13 special events in the City of Phoenix. Phoenix will purchase an alternative fuel truck with a rear-load compacter, a John Deere Gator tractor with a tilt bed, and special-venue collection containers to implement this project.

In addition, the city will receive $67,752.50 to expand its recycling program by purchasing new recycling containers to be used in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve to decrease the amount of recyclables currently going into the solid waste stream.

The Town of Quartzsite has been awarded $10,000 to fund recycling programs.

The grant will fund the purchase of a wood chipper to reduce the amount of green waste in the La Paz County Landfill by an estimated 26 percent. Mulch from the chipper will be available free to local farmers and gardeners. This project also will create a part-time job with Quartzsite.