The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania announced that it is awarding more than $3.2 million in Recycling Performance Grants to 147 communities in the state for their recycling efforts in 2002.
Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state Environmental Protection Agency, said, “These grants reward communities for creating and managing successful recycling programs,” Secretary McGinty said. “Local officials are encouraged to use this money to support even stronger municipal recycling programs and develop new markets for the material. Recycling benefits all Pennsylvanians by conserving natural resources and landfill space, providing jobs and generating billions of dollars in revenue.”
DEP has awarded about $7 million in Recycling Performance Grants to 329 communities for materials recycled in 2002, with about 450 applications still to be processed. The grants are awarded from the Recycling Fund, which is financed by a $2-a-ton fee on all materials disposed of in landfills in Pennsylvania. The Recycling Fund was established under Act 101 of 1988. The fee was extended through 2008 with passage of Act 175 in 2002.
Recycling is a $23 billion industry in Pennsylvania, paying $2.9 billion in wages to 81,322 people employed in 3,247 recycling and reuse industries statewide. The annual sales of these establishments total $18.4 billion. The indirect benefits total $1.8 billion and tax receipts are estimated at $305 million annually.
For information about funding opportunities for recycling programs, visit DEP’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us, Keyword: “Recycling Grants.” Information about the Recycling Markets Center also is available at the site, Keyword: “Market Development.”