EPA's consumer recycling education and outreach (REO) grant program will fund a range of projects that will increase waste prevention activities, increase the collection of recyclable materials and…

This $2,000,000 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Reduce, Reuse, Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Grant Program (CFDA 66.921) will fund a targeted recycling education and outreach initiative led by Ecomaine, a non-profit organization. The goal is to enhance recycling participation and divert more recyclable materials from landfills in southern, coastal, and central Maine, with a focus on multi-family dwelling units where recycling access has traditionally been limited. Key activities include creating public service announcements, developing informational materials, establishing a dedicated website, providing translation services, and creating a toolkit to guide future recycling programs. The expected outcomes include increased public awareness, higher recycling rates, reduced recycling contamination, and more residents reached through outreach, ultimately benefiting approximately 490,000 residents in the target communities.

EPA's consumer recycling education and outreach (REO) grant program will fund a range of projects that will increase waste prevention activities, increase the collection of recyclable materials and program participation rates, and decrease contamination of the recycling stream, fund projects that focus on commonly recycled materials such as municipal solid waste (e.g., plastics, aluminum, paper, glass, etc.), including food waste and organics, and fund projects and provide tools and technical assistance that will lead to long-term, sustained change, benefits, and support beyond the life of the grant. The purpose of this award is to enhance ecomaine's efforts to meet the REO grants elements. Ecomaine will launch and conduct a targeted pilot for multi-family dwelling units in southern, coastal, and central maine, where access to participation traditionally has been limited, focusing on dedicated educational outreach programming and single-sort recycling strategies. Outreach to residents and property owners, informational materials, social media, and increased access to recycling solutions will help to divert more recyclable material from maine's landfills. Activities:to accomplish this goal, ecomaine will perform the following activities: (1) create and broadcast public service announcements on streaming platforms, television, radio, social media, and other outlets; (2) develop, print, and distribute 'leave-behind' materials, such as door hangers, 'do/DON't' cards/magnets, stickers for bins and carts, and pamphlets; (3) create a dedicated website specifically for engagement with stakeholders in multi-family units on what regulations are in place, what property managers are required to provide, who to reach out to in cases of non-compliance, and resources to know what materials are recyclable; (4) provide translation services for developed materials, to best reach maine's growing immigrant populations; and (5) develop a program toolkit that will inform the future of ecomaine's own programs, as well as programs by other jurisdictions in their own efforts. The objective of this project is to inform the public about ecomaine's existing recycling program; provide information about acceptable recycling materials; and increase collection rates by expanding our residential recycling program. Subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:ecomaine will increase the municipal recycling rate of impacted communities in southern, coastal, and central maine by diverting more recycling tonnage from apartments' and condos' waste streams. Expected deliverables include the creation of educational materials, media campaigns and toolkits that focus on informing the public about existing recycling programs, acceptable recycling materials, and reducing recycling contamination. Expected outcomes include increased public awareness of and participation in single-sort recycling in maine, public service announcements/informational materials disseminated, increase in total tons of municipal solid waste collected/recycled, percent increase in participation rate of the recycling or composting program, reduction of contamination of the recycling stream, increase in number of communities reached through outreach activities, and increase in number of jobs created. Intended beneficiaries include ~490,000 residents in southern, coastal, and central maine with a focus on multi-family units.