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

EPA Region 7 awarded the City of Kansas City a $5 million cooperative agreement on March 1, 2026, under the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grants program (CFDA 66.920) to increase organic waste diversion from landfills through expanded food recovery efforts and composting capacity.

The city will hire a waste and materials coordinator to lead the project, develop a public outreach campaign, and partner with local organizations to implement food recovery, rescue, and landfill diversion plans at city-sponsored events and municipal facilities. Performance occurs in Kansas City, Missouri, with a period of performance through February 28, 2029.

The city directs $4.5 million in subawards to local organizations to scale edible food recovery and access and strengthen organics diversion infrastructure citywide. Subaward activities include $1.5 million to expand food rescue trucks, trailers, warehouse capacity, staff, and in-store cooling and racking; $400,000 to increase prepared-food rescue via refrigerated vans, onsite refrigeration, and meal containers; $400,000 to increase farm-fresh produce rescue with cold-chain vehicles, refrigeration and processing equipment, staff time, and community distribution events; and $800,000 for event-related organics diversion infrastructure.

The SWIFR program funds improvements to post-consumer materials management systems, including collection, transport, recovery, reuse, recycling, repair, and refurbishment of post-use materials, and safe disposal of non-recoverable waste.

EPA's solid waste infrastructure for recycling (swifr) grants for political subdivisions of states and territories will fund activities that will result in a significant decrease in the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) and/or an increase in the diversion of MSW from landfills and incineration, as well as fund innovative solutions and programs that provide or increase access to prevention, reuse, mechanical recycling, anaerobic digestion, and composting. The purpose of this award is to enhance the city of kansas city, missouri's efforts to meet the swifr grants elements. Specifically, the recipient will increase organic waste diversion from landfills by increasing food recovery efforts and partnering with local organizations to build capacity to manage additional organic waste generated at city-sponsored events and throughout the city's existing composting program.activities:the recipient will hire a waste and materials coordinator to lead the project, develop a public outreach campaign, and partner with local organizations to develop and implement a plan for food recovery, rescue and landfill diversion at city-sponsored events and municipal facilities.subrecipient:the city will take a community-wide, systems approach by directing $4.5 million in subawards to local organizations to expand food rescue and organic waste collection, diversion, and processing citywide. Subawards will scale edible food recovery and access ($1.5M to expand trucks, trailers, warehouse capacity, staff/operations, and in#8209; store cooling/racking; $400K to increase prepared#8209; food rescue via reefer vans, onsite refrigeration, and meal containers; $400K to increase amount of farm#8209; fresh produce rescue with cold#8209; chain vehicles, refrigeration/processing equipment, staff time, and community distribution events) and strengthen organics diversion infrastructure ($800K for event organics collection including trucks, compactors, bins, supplies, and education materials; $200K for event waste stations, compostables, and public education/messaging; $800K for added collection and processing capacity to handle increased organics; $400K for expanded curbside/event collection and processing equipment). Together, these investments will increase the volume of usable food delivered to food#8209; insecure residents, keep more organic waste out of landfills, build processing capacity for material that cannot be rescued, and support coordinated public outreach, with partners actively engaged in implementing the expansion of the city's organic waste collection program.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include creating a full-time waste and materials coordinator position to manage the project and executing subawards that will enhance food recovery efforts and respond effectively to the influx of organic waste produced within the kansas city metro area. Short and intermediate outcomes include recovering and redistributing approximately 125,000 meals annually, rescuing over 312 tons of food annually, and an overall food waste to landfill reduction rate of 15%. Longterm outcomes include reduced air pollution, improved air quality, and a community more engaged in sustainable food practices. The intended beneficiaries include kansas city residents, businesses and kansas city-sponsored eventgoers.