Indiana awards $1.4M in grants to recycling efforts

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) Recycling Market Development Program has awarded 12 organizations with more than $1.4 million in grant funding toward recycling efforts in Indiana. According to a news release from IDEM, the 12 grant recipients are located across the state and plan to expand recycling efforts through a variety of projects.

“The efforts made by these organizations will help Indiana get closer to our statewide recycling goal of 50 percent,” says Bruno Pigott, IDEM commissioner. 

The following organizations received IDEM grant funding:

• City of West Lafayette in Tippecanoe County was awarded $60,000 to purchase curbside food waste collection equipment. The equipment is part of an effort to expand the city’s educational food waste collection program and energy conversion program. The program will divert about 165 tons of food waste from the waste stream annually. 

• CW Recycling LLC in Marion County was awarded $250,000 to fund the purchase of automated recycling equipment that will help the company to triple its ability to recycle construction and demolition (C&D) debris. The project will result in an increase of about 40,000 tons of recycled C&D debris each year.

• Dubois County Solid Waste Management District was awarded $10,772.82 to provide a disposal option for large or refrigerant-based appliances and a space to store large, previously used items for residents to reuse. Both projects will help the district to double the amount of material it diverts from landfills. 

• Growing Green Inc. of Morgan County was awarded $249,175 to purchase a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) optical sorting unit for a new material recovery facility (MRF). The MRF will have the capacity to process about 30,000 tons of recyclable material annually.

• Martin County Solid Waste District was awarded $91,212.50 to purchase a cardboard compactor truck that will help the district to expand its recycling routes and increase the amount of recyclable material collected. The project will divert an additional 390,000 pounds of cardboard from landfills annually.

• Munster High School in Lake County was awarded $5,185 to expand its recycling collection program, including a monthly recycling container rental and pickup services. The school’s goal is to implement a streamlined recycling program and increase awareness among students about the importance of recycling.

• O’Bryan Barrel Co. in Vanderburgh County was awarded $250,000 to purchase a new plastic wash line and grinding components. The new equipment will allow the company to recycle plastic drums and tote bottles into plastic pellets that can be used to make other products.

• Opportunity Enterprises Inc. in Porter County was awarded $60,050 to purchase and install a new baler that will allow the nonprofit to recycle an additional 1,000 tons of shredded paper each year.

• Posey County Solid Waste Management District was awarded $5,000 to purchase an industrial paper shredder, which will allow it to offer paper shredding to the residents of Posey and surrounding counties.

• Rumpke of Indiana Inc. in Jackson County was awarded $175,000 to expand its recycling facility. The facility expansion project will increase capacity and help recycling opportunities for communities and businesses in Jackson and surrounding counties.

• Smith Creek in Floyd County was awarded $250,000 to purchase a mobile diesel wood grinder to grind wood waste and create animal bedding products. The grant will help Smith Creek to process an additional 10,000 tons of wood waste annually.

• Warren County Solid Waste District was awarded $22,595.50 to purchase recycling bins, a recycling trailer and a glass pulverizing machine. The material created by the glass pulverizing machine will be used by the Warren County Highway Department as a construction aggregate.

In 2019, the Recycling Market Development Program has awarded more than $1.4 million in grants to 12 projects with an expected total investment of more than $15.1 million, IDEM says. The projects will help to create 47 jobs and increase the amount of municipal solid waste, C&D debris and wood waste that is recycled by about 85,000 tons. 

The Recycling Market Development Program operates under the Recycling Market Development board. Grant money for the program comes from the Recycling Program and Assistance Fund, an account generated by a per-ton fee solid waste disposed at Indiana landfills. The fund supports source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.