Opportunities for Funding

The Recycling Partnership has grant funding available to support the development and expansion of residential drop-off recycling programs, especially for projects investing in infrastructure and/or equipment that are expected to result in substantial increases in the amount of recycling tonnage collected and/or to the number of households with access to recycling. This Request For Proposals (RFP) offers applicants the opportunity to apply for grant funding to support investments that grow drop-off recycling in areas that are geographically located within the territories of the United States of America. When assessing projects seeking grant assistance, the highest priorities for funding will be given to projects that establish new access to recycling services, connect with regional material recovery facilities, institute hub-and-spoke model collection systems, and/or that invest in recycling drop-off systems as a precursor to the implementation of curbside recycling services. Priority will also be given to projects that implement best management practices such as the use of drop-off sites with controlled or supervised access including the use of site attendants, sites that adopt collection practices proven to increase participation such as material consolidation (commingling), and projects that employ the most effective and efficient collection strategies available within an applicant’s region. Projects seeking funding should also demonstrate how the project connects with or builds upon the existing recycling markets in the region.

Examples of fundable Residential Drop-off Recycling Grant projects are as follows:
- Construction of a new, staffed drop-off center that provides access to recycling services for a geographic region or community that is either without access to recycling or that is otherwise underserved,
- The adoption of compacting roll-off systems for the collection of recyclables to enhance
transportation efficiency and increase tonnage recovered,
- Improvements at a transfer station and/or related equipment that enables hub-and-spoke
recycling collection and transportation.

This grant program summary is provided to help potential applicants gain a quick understanding of this grant program and its broad requirements. Specific program parameters and requirements are explained again in greater detail throughout the body of the RFP document, and applicants should carefully read this entire document prior to submitting a proposal.

Eligibility: Grant funding is available to support publicly sponsored curbside recycling programs. The applicant must be a local government, solid waste authority, or federally recognized tribe. Funding is only available to communities seeking to implement cart-based curbside recycling programs. Grant funding is not available to replace existing carts, to support the purchase of carts for waste or organics collection, or to support the collection of recyclables from businesses, schools, or institutions. The grant program offers funding to support the purchase of recycling carts and to implement recycling education and outreach efforts. Grants are not available for education and outreach alone.

Cart and Collection Frequency Requirements: In order to qualify for grant funding, a community must be seeking to purchase carts that are at least 60+ gallons in volume and must collect curbside recyclables on a weekly or every-other-week basis. If planning to collect every-other-week, then a community must be seeking to purchase carts that are at least 90+ gallons in volume. Carts purchased with Recycling Partnership grant funding must contain a minimum of five percent (5%) residential post-consumer plastic content and should be embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

Education and Outreach Assistance: The Recycling Partnership has developed a tested and proven approach to supporting education and outreach in communities that are implementing cart-based recycling. Grantees must agree to use select elements of The Partnership’s campaign materials and must also partner with The Partnership to deploy an outreach campaign during the months prior to the rollout of carts. Required education and outreach activities include a direct-to-resident information card informing citizens about the availability/impending distribution of recycling carts, a kit of information delivered with the cart, and the use of oops tags or other anti-contamination strategies to reinforce correct recycling behavior after carts have been delivered. Grant funding at the level of $1 per household is provided to support the implementation of these items.

As a mission-driven non-profit organization, The Recycling Partnership mobilizes people, data, and solutions across the value chain to reduce waste and our impact on the environment while also unlocking economic benefits. We work on the ground with thousands of communities to transform underperforming recycling programs; we partner with companies to achieve packaging circularity, increase access to recycled materials, and meet sustainability commitments; and we work with government to develop policy solutions
to address the systemic needs of the U.S. residential recycling system and advance a circular economy.

For more information our organization, visit: www.recyclingpartnership.org.

Introduction
The purpose of the Multifamily Recycling Grant Program is to implement or expand access to recycling services at multifamily properties across the United States through the provision of financial, educational, and technical assistance. This Request for Proposals (RFP) offers local governments, recycling haulers, and multifamily property owners/managers the opportunity to apply for grant funding to support the acquisition of recycling equipment, infrastructure, or outreach at apartment complexes. The Partnership
seeks to expand equitable access to recycling service, increase recycling tonnage, and improve the quality of recycled commodities at multifamily properties.

A NARCH Planning Grant supports Tribal entities who do not currently have a NARCH award to conduct preparatory work for the development of a competitive NARCH application. An applicant organization may partner with other eligible AI/AN Tribal entities as well as additional non-AI/AN organizations. When in partnership with non-AI/AN organizations, 75% or more of requested funds must be allocated to the eligible AI/AN Tribal entities. See Section III. Eligibility Information for details.

The NARCH Planning Grant application should include:

A plan to formulate overall goals for a future NARCH application, including, but not limited to:
Assessment of administrative capacity needs to support a future NARCH award, and
Determining the types of allowable components (Research Project, Pilot Project Program, Career Enhancement Projects, or Research Infrastructure Enhancement Projects) that will be appropriate for a future NARCH application.
Activities to lay the groundwork for potential components of the future NARCH application and strategies to address needs, including but not limited to: defining research questions; assessing research workforce and infrastructure needs for required and optional components.
Efforts to identify collaborators, consultants, and advisors to strengthen the application, if necessary.
All activities to be supported in the NARCH Planning Grant must contribute coherently and synergistically to the goal of developing a competitive NARCH application.

The recipient organization(s) is expected to submit a NARCH S06 application within one year of the end date of the NARCH Planning Grant award. A NARCH Planning Grant is not renewable.

The National Historic Preservation Act authorizes grants to federally recognized Tribes for cultural and historic preservation projects. These grants assist Tribes, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiian Organizations in protecting and promoting their unique cultural heritage and traditions. From the beginning, the program has been shaped by Tribes. It focuses on what they are most concerned about protecting: Traditional skills, oral history, plant and animal species important in tradition, sacred and historic places, and the establishment of tribal historic preservation offices.

The Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Native Americans announces the availability of Fiscal Year 2025 funds for community-based projects for the Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE) program. The ERE program provides funding for the costs of planning, developing, and implementing programs designed to improve the capability of tribal governing bodies to regulate environmental quality pursuant to federal and tribal environmental laws.

NOFO: DE-FOA-0003373, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Provision 41007 (b)(2), Wind Turbine Technology Recycling The activities to be funded under this NOFO support BIL sections 41007(b)(2) and the broader government-wide approach to strengthen critical domestic manufacturing and supply chains and to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. This BIL section, through reference to section 3003(b)(4) of the Energy Act of 2020, addresses: • Research and development projects to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of wind energy technologies, including— • by increasing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the recovery of raw materials from wind energy technology components and systems • by minimizing potential environmental impacts from the recovery and disposal processes; • by advancing technologies and processes for the disassembly and recycling of wind energy devices; • by developing alternative materials, designs, manufacturing processes, and other aspects of wind energy technologies and the disassembly and resource recovery process that enable efficient, cost effective, and environmentally responsible disassembly of, and resource recovery from, wind energy technologies; and • strategies to increase consumer acceptance of, and participation in, the recycling of wind energy technologies

To view the NOFO, visit EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov

The intent of the grant program is to prepare Tribes and Tribal organizations for assuming all or part of existing IHS programs, functions, services and activities, and further develop and improve their health management capabilities.

Approximately 16-18 awards will be issued to assist Tribes and Tribal organizations to establish goals and performance measures; assess current management capacity; analyze programs to determine if management is practicable; and develop infrastructure systems to manage or organize the programs, function, services and activities of the current health programs.

The Tribal Management Grant Program consists of four project types with funding amounts and project periods.

Feasibility Study: $70,000 (maximum funding) for 12 months
Planning: $50,000 (maximum funding) for 12 months
Evaluation Study: $50,000 (maximum funding) for 12 months
Health Management Structure: $100,000 (average funding) for 12 months; $300,000 (maximum funding) for 35 months

This community-based grant program aims to support organizations to promote rural health care services outreach by improving and expanding the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services in rural areas. To achieve this purpose, the program also aims to strengthen local resources and capacity in rural communities. Through collaborative consortiums that include three or more health care providers, each community can develop innovative approaches to solve their own unique challenges and factors underlying rural health disparities.

Worldwide, emergent restrictions on the use of single-use and plastic packaging will limit access of specialty crops to global markets1. Therefore, Clemson University and The Foundation for Fresh Produce (FFP) of the International Fresh Produce Association are partnering with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to implement the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Lab of the Assisting Specialty Crop Exports program (ASCE-SPIL)2 by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS).

FFAR is accepting applications, on behalf of Clemson University and FFP, for the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Lab program to develop packaging and packaging alternatives for specialty crops compliant with the emergent packaging regulations in the EU, UK, Canada, Japan and other key markets.

We seek novel sustainable packaging or packaging alternatives that can replace single-use packaging and single-use plastic packaging but can offer at least some of the same functions in an economical manner.

The Sustainable Innovation Packaging Lab consists of three distinct tracks:

Track 1 (Applied R&D) seeks proposals aimed at bringing a solution for specialty crop exports that is still at the laboratory stage but shows high promise to be implemented in pilot-scale manufacturing with minimal further effort.
Track 2 (Technology Accelerator) seeks proposals aimed on scaling innovations in sustainable packaging for the fresh produce industry.
Track 3 (Scale-up and pilot) seeks proposals to run pilot-scale manufacturing projects aimed at commercializing a packaging solution for specialty crop exports.
For inquiries related to:

Tracks 1 and 3, please contact Dr. James Sternberg at sternbe@g.clemson.edu

Track 2, please contact Vonnie Estes at vestes@freshproduce.com
Full track requirements are detailed in the RFA.