The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $3,571,064 grant to the City of Ontario, California to help the city upgrade its recycling collection infrastructure and reduce food waste through a new digital donation tool. The award comes from EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grants program.
With this grant, the City of Ontario will establish new recycling collection routes and optimize materials management infrastructure through the purchase of recycling equipment such as electric trucks, electric vehicle charging stations, bins and carts, a power steam wash machine, and software to enhance zero waste strategies. The project will also create a digital food donation marketplace for businesses and nearby nonprofits and expand source separation of organic food waste and mixed recyclables by distributing carts and bins to residents and businesses. The proposed project facilitates the city’s compliance with California Senate Bill (SB) 1383.
SB 1383 requires California to cut organic waste sent to landfills by 75 percent and send 20 percent of edible food that would otherwise be landfilled to Californians in need by 2025. California has committed $464 million to organics recycling and surplus food recovery grants and loans, which includes nearly $29 million for food waste prevention and rescue projects. About half of California’s trash is food scraps, yard waste and other organics, and organic waste in landfills emits 20 percent of the state’s methane pollution. Methane is a particularly harmful driver of climate change, acting to trap heat in the atmosphere.
Reducing food waste is one of the most important actions communities and individuals can take to reduce climate pollution. The production-related emissions and landfill methane emissions associated with food loss and waste in the U.S. contribute to greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to that of 60 coal-fired power plants.
SWIFR Grants for Communities
The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides the largest EPA investment in recycling in 30 years to support National Recycling Strategy implementation and build a circular economy for all. The new funding supports improvements to waste management systems and programs, allowing resources to be used more efficiently and reducing the impact on the climate. SWIFR Community grant funding can be used to establish or optimize collection of materials; fund infrastructure, technology or other improvements; support and enhance end-markets for the use of recycled commodities; and/or increase the diversion, recycling rate and quality of materials collected for municipal solid waste.