Contact Pacific Southwest Waste Program
Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Solid Waste Projects
Region 9 Solid Waste Management Assistance Funds
- Currently Funded Projects
- Past Funded Projects
Currently Funded Projects
EPA provides grant funding to local, state, and tribal governments and non-profit organizations to promote waste reduction, and the safe and effective management of solid waste. For profit businesses are typically not eligible for EPA funding; however, some EPA programs enable businesses to partner with eligible organizations and a few EPA grants assist for profit businesses.
California Resource Recovery Association - Recycling Certification Program
City of Santa Monica- Increasing Recycling Rate by Labeling PLA Plastic and Digesting Food WasteThis project aims to develop, administer, and measure the results of a certificate program for recycling and waste reduction professionals. The program would train and certify individuals to a standard of knowledge and professionalism in the field. The training of approximately 900 professional is planned at statewide locations, and out-of-state participants can be certified. It would aid individuals in developing skills and knowledge, as well as employers in search of industry-competent professionals. The funds secured would be used to develop courses in C&D, organics, outreach and education and zero waste. The instructors chosen to develop and teach these courses are all well known leaders in their respected fields. In addition to testing, every student is required to develop a recycling program and report measurable results in order to obtain their certification.
Contact: Timonie Hood, hood.timonie@epa.gov, 415-972-3282
National Association of Minority Contractors of Arizona- Construction and Demolition Debris Diversion ProjectThe City of Santa Monica is a local authority with a strong zero waste goal and greater than 60% diversion. They are in a position to expand their food waste and biodegradable collection programs because of a recent ban on non-recyclable plastic food service containers. An increasing problem nationwide is the inability to differentiate between compostable plastic (PLA) and recyclable plastic. This grant works with PLA manufacturers to create a marking – such as a green line- for PLA containers so that they are properly sorted and composted. Secondly, the project aims to boost their anaerobic digestion of food waste by creating a cleaner food waste feedstock. This will be accomplished by researching the best ways to develop zero waste stations throughout the city. Zero waste stations will create less contaminated food waste collection containers as well as increase the diversion of recyclables. This grant will yield measurable #s, namely tons of organic waste sent to anaerobic digestion.
Contact: Cara Peck, peck.cara@epa.gov, 415-972-3382
This grant project aims to target 60% diversion of construction and demolition waste during renovations and new residential construction in Arizona. The proposal will develop alternatives to landfilling, create a best practices report and write a business plan outlining the opportunities for C&D recycling in Arizona, an underserved area. Arizona is one of the leaders in the country in population, job and construction building growth, yet there are limited opportunities for C&D recycling.
Contact: Saskia van Gendt, vangendt.saskia@epa.gov, 415-947-4103
East Bay Municipal Utility District,Oakland, CA, FY07 $50,000
Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste
This project aims to provide guidelines for the anaerobic digestion of food waste and to demonstrate its benefits. This is in an effort to encourage diversion of food waste from landfills and composting. The project will be implemented through a bench-scale anaerobic digestion pilot study that will determine optimum food waste design/operating criteria and methane production rates. The bench study will develop criteria that can be used to foster a new market where food waste will be a resource for renewable energy production.
Contact: Cara Peck (peck.cara@epa.gov), (415) 972-3382
Columbia University, New York City, NY, FY07, $48,000
Creating an Academic-Industry at Columbia University for Collection and Analysis of Recycling Data, Starting with EPA Region 9 States.
The goal of this project is to increase the transparency of data collected at Material Recycling Facilities in Region 9, analyze these data and compare them with recycled commodity data collected by national metal, paper, etc. organizations. In addition, the project hopes to develop information that will help to increase the amount of materials recovered from municipal solid wastes for recycling. This will be done by developing a statistically rigorous method for determining recycling rates. This work will be the first stage of developing a national repository of recycling program data and devising performance metrics for municipal recycling programs.Contact: Timonie Hood (hood.timonie@epa.gov), 415-972-3282
The ReUse People of America, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, FY07, $50,000
Building Materials Reuse Retail Warehouse in Los Angeles
This project will open and operate a building materials reuse retail warehouse in the city of Los Angeles. The Construction and Demolition debris in Los Angeles has exceeded the current storage capacity and therefore a new facility is necessary. This facility will not only provide a warehouse for storing thousands of tons of reusable building materials, it will also assist local residents to improve their standard of living by enabling them to purchase more and better materials than they can by buying new.Contact: Andre Villasenor (villasenor.andre@epa.gov), (415) 972-3238
New Found Land Institute, Wisconsin, FY07, $57,000
Model Expanded Organics Programs and Demonstrations
The focus of this project is on expanding recycling programs to include food waste and other organic materials composting. This will be accomplished by developing a guide to best policies and programs, encouraging expansion of current recycling programs into expanded compost and to demonstrate the best practices in a new community composting program that is on the verge of expanding. The end result will include a pilot demonstration with a local government agency, the above mentioned guide, a coordinated educational campaign for prospective communities, recommendations for further research to best realize the potential for expanded composting and a best practices demonstration in Region 9.Contact: Cara Peck (peck.cara@epa.gov), (415) 972-3382