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…

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Land and Emergency Management awarded a $24.6 million Project Grant to the World Wildlife Fund, Inc. under the Reduce, Reuse, Recycling Education and Outreach Grants program (CFDA 66.921) on September 1, 2025. This five-year award (through August 31, 2030) funds three integrated national initiatives: (1) development and implementation of a National Consumer Wasted Food Reduction Campaign targeting 25 key U.S. subregions and nationwide media channels to decrease food waste by 10% nationally and 20% in targeted communities; (2) compost market development campaigns targeting government and business decision-makers to increase non-agricultural compost sales by 40%; and (3) consumer composting education and outreach programs designed to increase composting participation by 50% while reducing contamination by 50% in target communities.

The prime grantee will manage competitive subawards to regional partners while coordinating implementation across multiple sub-awardees including ReFed (national food waste reduction campaign leadership), The Waste And Resources Action Programme/WRAP (behavioral insights and campaign design), the Ad Council (national media campaign development), The Johns Hopkins University (evidence synthesis and research), the United States Composting Council (compost market development), and the Institute For Local Self-Reliance (household composting education). These coordinated efforts aim to deliver long-term, sustained behavior change and market development benefits extending beyond the grant performance period.

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/or 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 the the consumer recycling education and outreach coalition's efforts to meet the REO grants elements. The consumer recycling education and outreach coalition will deliver a national wasted food reduction campaign, compost market development campaigns and a consumer composting education and outreach campaign.activities:the consumer recycling education and outreach coalition will perform the following activities: develop and implement the wasted food reduction campaign across nationwide media channels and in 25 key subregions across the US; run the compost market development campaigns targeting government and businesses with roles in the development of non-agricultural composting markets; and implement a consumer composting education and outreach campaign that will reduce contamination and increase composting participation in target communities. The consumer recycling education and outreach coalition will also manage the administration of competitive subawards to reach the 25 sub-regions across the US and to support education that will grow composting markets and increase composting. The objective of this project is to develop and implement the national wasted food reduction campaign; expand the market and sales of compost; and increase education and outreach to households on proper composting. Subrecipient:the grant project will be implemented by a coalition of five non-profits, one of which is the grantee. The work of the other four coalition members will be funded through subawards and will focus on national and local campaigns for wasted food reduction, compost market development, and composting education and outreach. In addition, there will be several pools of competitive subaward funding. The largest pool is designated for local organizations and municipalities to promote positive messaging for reducing food waste in 25 sub-regions across the US. Smaller pools will be used to: support the research needed to conduct successful wasted food reduction campaigns in communities; mobilize decision-makers, such as governments, to increase demand for compost use; and support local organizations in promoting composting education, therefore motivating households to reduce contamination and increase participation in composting programs. Outcomes:the consumer recycling education and outreach coalition will deliver a national wasted food reduction campaign, compost market development campaigns, and composting education and outreach campaign. Key anticipated outputs include 1,250,000 public-facing educational materials. Key anticipated outcomes are reduction in wasted food; increase in tons of compost sold for non-agricultural uses; new policies that remove barriers to or incentivize compost use; increase in food waste composting volume; increase in food waste composting participation rates; reduction in food waste compost contamination; new jobs created. Beneficiaries are communities across the US and in the 25 key sub-regions, which will reduce food waste volumes; agencies and businesses with roles in the development of non-agricultural composting markets; and communities and households which will learn about proper composting and find solutions for local composting challenges.