(INDIANAPOLIS) – The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) Recycling Market Development Program (RMDP) awarded eight organizations with $1 million in grant funding to expand recycling efforts in Indiana. The eight award recipients are located across the state and will expand recycling efforts through a variety of projects. Below is a list of recipients and their award amounts:
- Dearborn County Solid Waste Management District – Awarded $15,212.50 to purchase recycling drop boxes for collection of cardboard. The district projects a 25% growth of corrugated cardboard recycling resulting in an additional 48 tons per year.
- Elliott Company of Indianapolis, Inc., Marion County – Awarded $18,184.44 to conduct a research project to determine secondary use for polyisocyanurate (PIR) foam known as ELFOAM to reduce industrial waste from production. The research plan will prepare samples and obtain data to ascertain whether pelletized recycled ELFOAM® is a viable substitute for light weight stone aggregate in roof top and small aesthetic urban garden applications. The project has the potential to divert up to 500 tons of scrap waste from landfills.
- Recycling Works, Inc., Elkhart County – Awarded $478,599.06 to upgrade their material recovery facility with a new system feed/presort conveyor, OCC screen, glass breaker system, medium polisher system, optical fiber sorter and optical container sorter. The upgrades will increase processing capacity and help divert an expected 435 tons of waste from landfills.
- reTHink, Inc, Vigo County – Awarded $10,454.00 to purchase an injection mold, extruder and sheet press to up-cycle plastic materials. The equipment will help divert up to 26,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the first year. Once fully operational they expect a processing capacity of 117,480 pounds.
- Richmond Sanitary District, Wayne County – Awarded $220,000.00 to purchase a recycling truck and additional curbside recycling containers to expand the city’s curbside recycling program to include a source separated carboard collection. The city believes the project will result in doubling the amount of cardboard diverted from the landfill resulting in 328 tons recycled yearly.
- Rush County Solid Waste Management District – Awarded $10,050.00 to purchase a cardboard compactor to effectively capture cardboard in a manner that meets the increase in material while reducing the cost of transportation.
- Technology Recyclers, Marion County – Awarded $97,500.00 to launch a marketing and education campaign to encourage hazardous electronic-waste recycling. The goal is to increase e-waste collection by 25% or 2,961 tons per year.
- Tri-State Resource Recovery Center (TSRR), Vanderburgh County – Awarded $150,000 to purchase a specialized robotic system to process polypropylene (#5 plastic) at their material recovery facility. An additional 20% of HDPE (or #2 plastic) and additional 30% of PET (or #1 plastic) is estimated to be recovered during manual sorting due to the new equipment increasing efficiency on the sorting line.
By fostering recycling markets in Indiana through RMDP grants, IDEM supports the growth of the state’s private recycling sector infrastructure. The awarded $1 million in grant funding will go to projects with an expected total investment of more than $3 million. The projects will increase recycling for curbside recyclables, plastics, cardboard and e-waste from municipal solid waste by almost 6,700 tons per year.
More information about the RMDP grant program, including upcoming grant opportunities, can be found on IDEM’s website.
About the Recycling Market Development Program
The Recycling Market Development Program operates under the Recycling Market Development Board as established by IC 4-23-5.5. The grant money for the program comes from the Recycling Promotion and Assistance Fund, an account generated by a per-ton fee on solid waste disposed at Indiana landfills. The fund supports source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting to prevent solid waste from permanent disposal.
About IDEM
IDEM (www.idem.IN.gov) implements federal and state regulations regarding the environment. Through compliance assistance, incentive programs and educational outreach, the agency encourages and aids businesses and citizens in protecting Hoosiers and our environment.
