PRESS RELEASE
from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy

For more information,contact
Carla Felix (402) 471-4223,
Amanda Woita (402) 471-4243,
Nathanael Urie (402) 471-4245, or
For Immediate Release
July 23, 2015


NDEQ Awards $2.26 Million in Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Jim Macy today announced the awarding of $2,257,791 in grants through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Grant Fund is generated by a fee on solid waste disposed of in landfills, an annual retail business sales fee, and a fee assessed on the sale of new tires for motor vehicles. The grants are provided to local integrated waste management projects including: recycling systems, household hazardous waste collection programs, transfer stations, and yard waste composting. Tire fee grants totaling $2.01 million for projects related to tire recycling were previously announced in June.

The table below provides a list, by city, of all 2015 grantees, and includes the amount awarded and a description of the projects receiving grant support.

2015 Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant Award Recipients

City
Organization
Award Amount
Application Summary
Bassett
City of Bassett
$18,150
Crush 2,000 tons of concrete and reuse the material on local roads.
Belvidere
Trailblazer Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D)
$8,400
Conduct an electronics collection event in each of the seven counties in the RC&D area.
Chadron
Keep Chadron Beautiful
$40,464
Maintain office paper and cardboard collection route for businesses in Chadron. They collect approximately 200,000 pounds of material in a year.
Columbus
Keep Columbus Beautiful
$12,275
Host two electronics collection events for Columbus and Platte County.
Crawford
City of Crawford
$70,125
Purchase 125 three-yard recycling containers.
Fremont
Keep Fremont Beautiful
$30,000
Hold a one-day household hazardous waste collection event and public education activities over the course of the year.
Fremont
City of Fremont/Department of Utilities
$175,000
Purchase a compost screener.
Grand Island
Grand Island Area Clean Community Systems
$165,000
Operating funds for the Betty Curtis Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility run by the Grand Island Area Clean Community System.
Gretna
Gretna Sanitation, Inc.
$16,000
Purchase a grapple hook attachment for an existing loader to be used in harvesting organic material.
Hebron
Thayer County Road Department
$8,500
Purchase a used oil furnace.
Kearney
Board of Regents University of Nebraska dba UNK
$26,182
Purchase recycling containers for use of students, staff and visitors to the Kearney campus.
Kearney
City of Kearney
$31,254
Purchase six 28-cubic-yard roll-off containers for recycling.
Kimball
Keep Kimball Beautiful
$23,950
Provide recycling for Kimball residents and businesses. Also hold one electronics collection event for residents.
Lexington
Lexington Area Solid Waste Agency
$32,620
Conduct six to eight collection events over two weekends in the LASWA area.
Lincoln
Keep Nebraska Beautiful
$39,222
Remove toxic chemicals from six high schools in Nebraska.
Lincoln
WasteCap Nebraska
$73,068
Partner with Downtown Lincoln Association to work with bars and restaurants to create a system for collection of recyclables and compostables through cooperative use of collection containers.
Lincoln
Keep Nebraska Beautiful
$49,723
Fund the Materials Exchange Program, which encourages the reuse of goods.
Lincoln
Nebraska Pharmacists Association
$120,971
Statewide effort for the collection of unused medication by using registered pharmacies as disposal points.
Lincoln
Midland Recycling
$190,000
Purchase a single-stream system which includes a pre-sort conveyor, several transfer conveyors, material separator, screens and an in-ground pit.
Lincoln
Lincoln Public Schools
$30,214
Continue and expand established recycling program and add another half-time position.
Lincoln
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
$4,819
Purchase ten recycling dumpsters.
Lincoln
Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department
$100,000
Fund ten household hazardous waste collection events. Home-based household collection service, two latex paint collection events and household hazardous waste education.
Lincoln
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
$99,800
Partners in Pollution Prevention project utilizing the resources and expertise of the NE manufacturing extension partnership to provide individualized source reduction and recycling of large waste streams including hazardous waste through the use of interns at participating Nebraska businesses.
Lyman
Village of Lyman, Nebraska
$32,000
Crush 3,000 tons of concrete for use in city alleys.
McCook
Red Willow County
$156,500
Minimum of 52 household hazardous waste and electronics collection events in central and southwest Nebraska. Operating expenses for the household hazardous waste facility in McCook.
Minden
City of Minden
$15,389
Convert existing street sweeper to a water truck and purchase transfer trailer for hauling water for composting.
Oakland
Nebraska Loess Hills RC&D Council
$20,000
Three household hazardous waste collection events in the Blair, Winnebago and North Bend areas.
Oakland
Nebraska Loess Hills RC&D Council
$2,600
Electronics collection event in Pender.
Omaha
weCompost
$24,960
Diesel truck with hydraulic lift and rotary in-vessel composter to divert and process food waste in Omaha.
Omaha
City of Omaha -- UnderTheSink HHW Facility
$350,000
Operating expenses for "Under The Sink" household hazardous waste facility in Omaha.
Schuyler
Colfax County Highway Department
$76,320
Purchase mulcher and skid loader for use in cleaning vegetation from roadside ditches. Mulch will be available at no cost to citizens.
Scottsbluff
City of Scottsbluff
$100,000
Purchase trommel screen and loader to create mulch that will be used by the city and the general public.
Sidney
Keep Sidney Beautiful
$5,600
One electronics collection event for residents of Sidney.
South Sioux City
City of South Sioux City
$90,575
Purchase and install wood chipper and wood waste burner to produce energy for a city-owned campground.
Verdigre
Village of Verdigre
$13,695
Funding for the village recycling program and the purchase of two recycling dumpsters and a used pickup truck.
Wayne
City of Wayne
$4,415
Hold an electronics collection event.