Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise approved nearly $2M in grants
Officials from the Front Range Waste Diversion have announced the first round of grant applications that will give nearly $2 million to eight projects.
Recipients of the grant funds all will be projects focused on reducing the amount of junk added into landfills across the Front Range.
Some of the grant money, like the City of Arvada’s, will go towards purchasing recycling bins, while others like We Don’t Waste, a non-profit organization, will use its nearly $200,000 award to double the amount of food they rescue and distribute to low-income populations.
“The Front Range community has come forward with exciting and innovative projects to tackle waste diversion in their own backyard. The first Front Range Waste Diversion grant projects represent an exciting start toward meeting the region’s aggressive diversion targets and should serve as a catalyst for other communities to follow suit and move up the zero waste ladder,” Neil Kaufman, FRWD board chairperson, said in a media release.
The initial recipients of the grant are projected to prevent 18,000 tons of waste from entering the various landfills along the Front Range, according to the release.
Each project needs to be completed by 2022.
The Colorado legislature established the Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise in 2019 to help reach the state’s waste diversion goals, and is made up of directors and staff members from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Ultimately, the goal of the Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise is to increase recycling, composting and waste reduction to 32% by 2021, 39% by 2026 and 51% by 2036, according to the news release.
Additional grant opportunities for local governments, institutions, nonprofits and the private sector from the Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise will be announced in 2021, and will focus on construction and demolition waste diversion projects.
“This innovative grant program provides critical resources that help bolster the state’s overall sustainability and climate protection efforts. We are excited that so many of our local and private partners are dedicated to reducing waste and improving our recycling and composting programs,” John Putnam, CDPHE’s director of Environmental Programs, said in the release.
Get OutThere
Signup today for free and be the first to get notified on new updates.