Pennsylvania’s Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty announced a $99,466 market development grant to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Philadelphia for a one-year study to assess supply and demand issues and examine market barriers and related opportunities for reusing recovered residential building materials in southeastern Pennsylvania.
The study will serve as a resource for the city of Philadelphia and other urban areas interested in exploring ways to recover wood and bricks; architectural salvage such as light fixtures, kitchen cabinets, doors and moldings; window frames, door frames and flooring; and other building materials. Expanding the markets for these products will support emerging deconstruction and reuse companies in the region.
“Many older homes contain quality building materials and valuable and attractive architectural artifacts that can be reused,” Secretary McGinty said at RESTORE, a business that recycles residential building materials and offers architectural salvage, deconstruction and design services. “Finding creative ways to reuse building materials from older homes will reduce pressure on landfills, provide attractive options for new homebuyers and help revitalize our urban environment. Replacing our aging housing stock in older cities and towns is a vital part of attracting families and investments in home ownership to create stable neighborhoods.”
In a pilot project last year, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance , or ILSR, came up with a strategy for deconstructing two homes and conducted a demonstration “architectural salvage” of a third house. The nonprofit organization identified a wide range of salvageable materials, researched existing markets for them and estimated the recovered material retail value at $8,000.
ILSR and Penn State’s Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance will disseminate the findings of this study throughout the state to inform others about opportunities for similar material recovery efforts in their regions.
McGinty also announced that nearly $4 million in recycling performance grants to 237 Pennsylvania communities for their recycling efforts in 2003.
While awarding the grant, the PA DEP added that the continued success of Pennsylvania’s recycling program will depend in large part on the state’s Governor’s proposed $800 million bond initiative to expand and enhance Growing Greener. The initiative has not been passed, nor have any alternative dedicated funding sources for the plan been proposed.
Part of the Governor’s plan would provide an additional $25 million per year to the Recycling Fund to assist municipalities with operating existing programs that give more than 10 million Pennsylvanians access to recycling. The money also will help 42 municipalities newly mandated to recycle as a result of the 2000 federal census.
Performance grants are financed by the Recycling Fund, which is supported by a $2 per ton fee on all materials disposed of at municipal waste landfills and resource recovery facilities in Pennsylvania.
These 237 grants represent the initial group approved from nearly 800 applications that DEP received by the Sept. 30, 2004, filing deadline. Additional awards will be made as the remaining applications are processed.
To view the full list of grant recipients click on the following link -- Grant Winners