This $954,687 Project Grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Reduce, Reuse, Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Grants program (CFDA 66.921) will fund the Salt Lake City Corporation's efforts to enhance residential and community recycling programs in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The grant will enable the Salt Lake City Corporation to engage low-income and disadvantaged community members through a communication campaign, recycling ambassador program, and collection events for hard-to-recycle items, electronic waste, and household hazardous waste. The key objectives are to increase public awareness of recycling programs, provide information on accepted materials, and boost participation rates while reducing contamination. The corporation will sub-award a portion of the funding to the Utah Recycling Alliance to build capacity and conduct outreach activities such as trash talks, collection events, and fix-it clinics. The anticipated outcomes include a 5% increase in curbside recycling and composting participation on Salt Lake City's westside, a 5% reduction in recycling contamination, and the collection of an additional 1,547 tons of municipal solid waste for recycling, composting, and proper disposal, resulting in a 4,143 MTCO2e reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.