Kathleen McGinty, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Protection Secretary, announced $2.1 million in recycling performance grants to 34 Pennsylvania communities for their recycling efforts in 2002.
“These grants reward communities for being a contributor to Pennsylvania’s recycling success story,” McGinty said. “I encourage local officials to use this money to support even stronger municipal recycling programs, which play an essential role in environmental protection and economic growth in communities across the state.”
DEP has awarded 775 recycling performance grants totaling more than $20 million for recycling efforts in 2002. Grants are based on how much municipalities recycle. The 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.
The Governor’s initiative would provide an additional $25 million per year to the Recycling Fund to assist municipalities with operating existing programs that already give more than 10 million Pennsylvanians access to recycling. The money also will help 42 municipalities that were mandated to recycle in 2002 as a result of the 2000 federal census.