Georgia Award More than $2 Million in Recycling Grants

The state of Georgia’s Solid Waste Trust Fund has announced that the cities of Savannah, and Griffin, as well as Bulloch County and Valdosta-Lowndes County will receive a total of $2.2 million in state grant money.

The money will go toward implementing four innovative regional recycling collection programs.

"The innovation and partnerships proposed in the state’s recycling strategy have established Georgia as one of the nation’s newly recognized recycling leaders. We are especially pleased that these projects will serve our urban and rural areas, make it easier for Georgians to recycle, conserve our resources and leverage public and private funds," said Randy Hartmann, DCA’s Environmental Programs Director.

The state notes that its recycling strategy, which looks to develop public-private recycling partnerships and business model approach, has drawn the attention of Curbside Value Partnership, an organization focused on increasing residential curbside recycling programs and measuring the growth of these recycling programs as a way to increase the sustainability of local recycling efforts.

The planned recycling hubs are expected to boost single stream recycling collection beyond metro-Atlanta and a continued focus on the re-use of recycled items by Georgia industries.

The four recipients of the grant money were selected based upon their efforts to significantly reduce the amount of recyclables being disposed and leverage support for their efforts.

Under this program, the applicants have estimated that almost $5 million will be matched by local partners, mainly the private sector, and an additional $3 million will be supported by local government match. Each of the applicants were also selected based upon their strong mix of urban and rural areas and curbside and drop-off recycling programs.

The four communities were also selected because of their geographic location, either served by or with access to the state’s major transportation corridors. The private-public partnerships between these communities and private sector recycling markets provides a balanced approach to the recycling hub concept and may also eventually serve as collection points statewide to support carpet recycling (Nylon 6) through a partnership program offered to DCA by Shaw Industries.