EPA Press Office:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces More than $4.9 Million in Recycling Education and Outreach Funding in EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region as Part of America Recycles Day

On America Recycles Day and Anniversary of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA announces grants funded in part by the largest recycling investment in 30 years

Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)
WASHINGTON (Nov. 15, 2023) – Today, in conjunction with America Recycles Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 25 selectees nationwide to receive over $33 million in Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) grants, nearly $5 million of which is slated for the Mid-Atlantic region. These grants, which are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, will expand recycling education and outreach for waste management systems across the region.

“Today, on America Recycles Day, we are putting historic recycling investments into communities, made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Two years ago today, the President signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and with it, unleashed unprecedented funding to enable Tribes and communities to update recycling and composting infrastructure, while also advancing education programs to increase recycling rates and reduce waste.”

“These recycling education and outreach grants allow us to meet people where they are – they provide funding to create educational materials and find ways to make recycling easier,” said EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “There’s no one size fits all solution and these grants allow local leaders to custom tailor solutions.”

These recycling grants will help tackle consumer confusion and outdated recycling infrastructure, the largest barriers to proper recycling. Thanks to President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed two years ago today, EPA was provided the largest recycling investment in 30 years that is funding this program.

These grants reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to tackling environmental justice and the climate crisis. Many communities with environmental justice concerns carry a disproportionate environmental and human health burden from waste management. As part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, 74% of the funding allocated in the REO grants will benefit underserved and overburdened communities. Increasing recycling is also an important way to reduce pollution because natural resource extraction and processing make up half of all global greenhouse gas emissions that drive the climate crisis. Recycling reduces the need to extract resources such as timber, water, and minerals for new products.

The Recycling Education and Outreach grant projects will help inform the public about local recycling and composting programs and focus on increasing collection rates while decreasing contamination of recycling streams across the nation. EPA has announced 4 selectees in the Mid-Atlantic region selectees to receive $4,930,047 in Recycling Education and Outreach grants. They include:

• Delaware Valley Citizens Council for Clean Air has been selected to receive $371,516. The goal of this proposal is to build and support composting systems at the backyard and neighborhood levels in Braddock, Clairton, and Swissvale, Pennsylvania. The Council will co-develop educational workshops, literature, and social media with community members, provide supplies and logistical support, and create a network that will develop and manage composting systems tailored to community needs.​
• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission has been selected to receive $1,965,525. Representing seventeen local governments in Virginia, this campaign will take a comprehensive approach to improve recycling across multiple jurisdictions by employing techniques such as community engagement, research, targeted route-level audits, direct mailings, and web-based education materials.
• World Wildlife Fund has been selected to receive $1,164,792. This school-based project is located in four cities across Georgia, Maryland, and Tennessee to promote food waste reductions and recycling.
• Institute for Local Self-Reliance has been selected to receive $1,428,214 for a national composting campaign which aims to catalyze implementation and growth of community composting around the county.

To learn more about the Recycling Education and Outreach funding, please visit: EPA’s Recipients and Selectees webpage.

America Recycles Day

Today marks both the 29th America Recycles Day, the second anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the second anniversary of EPA’s National Recycling Strategy. The National Recycling Strategy was the first in a series of EPA strategies devoted to building a circular economy – one that reduces material use, redesigns materials, products, and services to be less resource intensive, and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture new materials and products.

To build upon the goals of the recycling strategy, EPA released the Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution for public comment in April. The Draft Strategy outlines steps to reduce pollution during production, improve management of plastic materials throughout product lifecycles, and encourage actions to keep plastics out of national waterways and the environment. Future strategies will address food waste and electronics.

Visit EPA’s website to learn more ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

EPA offers many free, online resources, including:

• Model Recycling Toolkit. 
• Composting Food Scraps in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit.
• Wasted Food Scale: Updated Recommendations.
• Standardized Terms for Materials Accepted by Municipal Recycling Programs.

• Creating Messages that Drive Behavior Change.
• Recycling Infrastructure and Market Opportunities Map.

Learn more about America Recycles Day.