This agreement provides funding from the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IADNR) has been awarded a $511,502 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 under the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grant Program (CFDA 66.920). The purpose of this 3-year award is to enhance IADNR's efforts to meet the SWIFR grant elements, which include supporting long-term planning and data collection to demonstrate progress towards national recycling and food loss/waste reduction goals.

The key activities to be performed under this agreement are: 1) Developing a statewide study on food waste minimization and management; 2) Conducting life cycle assessments on materials that may be diverted from landfill disposal; and 3) Analyzing the state's recovery, redemption, and recycling rates for deposit-eligible beverage containers, including assessing the associated economic and environmental impacts. The anticipated deliverables include semi-annual reports, a food waste study report, a life cycle assessment study report, and a deposit container recovery analysis report. The intended beneficiaries span food producers, processors, distributors, retailers, recycling facilities, and the broader Iowa business and manufacturing community.

EPA's solid waste infrastructure for recycling (swifr) grants for states and territories will fund activities that support long-term planning and data collection needs to demonstrate progress toward the national recycling goal and food loss and waste reduction goal and advance a circular economy for materials, as well as support the state-led implementation of plans to advance post-consumer materials management. The purpose of this award is to enhance the iowa department of natural resource's (iadnr) efforts to meet the swifr grants elements. Iadnr will develop a study for reducing food loss and decreasing the amount of food disposed in landfills; complete life cycle assessments on materials that may be diverted from landfill disposal; and conduct an analysis to measure recovery rate and redemption rate for deposit eligible beverage containers.activities:the activities to be performed are to: develop a statewide food waste minimization and management study (food waste study); determine and analyze the life cycle impacts of select materials and processes (life cycle assessment study); and conduct an analysis of the state's recovery, redemption and recycling rates for deposit eligible beverage containers sold in the state of iowa and associated economic and environmental impacts (deposit container recovery analysis). The objectives are to advance the state's efforts to minimize upstream food loss and increase diversion of food waste from iowa landfills; advance the state's efforts to progress towards a circular economy with a sustainable materials approach by using reusing materials more productively, and improve the state's recycling efforts for deposit eligible, single-use beverage containers.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:anticipated deliverables include semi-annual reports; a food waste study report; a life cycle assessment study report; and a deposit container recovery analysis report. Expected outcomes include: a summary and assessment of findings from researching food waste management in other states; an inventory of existing food waste prevention and processing management systems in iowa, infrastructure, and transportation; a GAP analysis of the existing food waste management system compared to recommendations from the food waste study; a report of associated economic impacts, number of jobs created, environmental impacts, and amount of GHG and water usage reduced from returning beverage container materials to the marketplace through recycling of recovered containers; and a library of life-cycle assessments for use by businesses and iowa state residents. The intended beneficiaries include IA DNR, food producers, processors, distributors, food service companies, institutions with food services, food pantries, and compost sites and digestors, beverage producers, beverage distributors, retailers, redemption centers, recycling facilities and organizations dedicated to reducing litter; and iowa's businesses and manufacturers as well as public agencies and material processors. .