Minnesota to award $400,000 recycling grants

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), St. Paul, Minnesota, plans to award a total of $400,000 in grants designed to help create a strong, sustainable market for recyclable materials. The MPCA will award grants in amounts from $50,000 to $250,000 to Minnesota businesses or organizations that use recyclable materials in their products. 

According to a news release from MPCA, the goal of the grants is to help increase both demand for and value of recyclable materials, while also keeping items out of landfills and creating jobs in Minnesota.

In recent years, the recycling industry has supported more than 60,000 jobs and more than $3.4 billion in wages in the state of Minnesota. But in the wake of China’s restrictions on importing recyclables from the U.S., recycling markets are fragile, MPCA reports. The state’s Recycling Market Development Grants program was approved by Minnesota Legislature in 2019 to ensure the recycling market remains strong and is able to protect jobs.

“This is the first major funding we have had for this in about 15 years,” Wayne Gjerde, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s recycling market-development coordinator, says in a Minneapolis-based Star Tribune newspaper report on the new grants. “This is a good thing and a perfect opportunity to really expand recycling capacity in Minnesota in places we have not before.”

Proposals are primarily being sought for new commercial uses of mixed paper, glass and organics. However, other ideas, including for plastics, paint and construction products will be considered, according to the MPCA.

Grant applications must operate a business in Minnesota or have plans for a facility in the state. Local governments also may be eligible if their project will result in increased use of recycled materials. All applicants must match at least 25 percent of their grant award, officials say.

Applications are due May 29. Eligibility details on who may apply and grant amounts can be found here.