"Launched last year, the Foam Recycling Coalition's grant program has already given away almost $100,000," said Lynn Dyer, President of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. "With greater end-market demand for foam polystyrene equipment and handling, our funding program helps recycling facilities include polystyrene foam in their accepted recycling."
Last year's grantees, Denver's Alpine Waste & Recycling and Colchester County, Nova Scotia, were awarded grants to purchase equipment that provides polystyrene foam recycling services to their communities. A third grantee's announcement is imminent.
Organizations involved in managing residential curbside recycling programs or material recovery facilities are eligible to apply for funding. Available to both public and private organizations, each grant will range from about $15,000 to $50,000.
This initiative helps fund infrastructure for the collection, processing and marketing of products made from polystyrene foam. It targets post-consumer EPS products, such as foodservice packaging (cups, plates, bowls, clamshells, cafeteria trays and so forth), as well as other types of packaging, like egg cartons, meat trays and protective packaging used for shipping electronics and other fragile items, said the FRC.
Grant amounts will be determined on a case-by-case basis dependent upon equipment needs. No cash match is required, but additional costs may be incurred by the grantee for related items such as site preparation, provision of conveying system, electrical infrastructure, freight and other installation costs.
Grantees are required to communicate the addition of EPS to their recycling program, both directly to households and in their regular communication materials. Grantees also must commit to collecting, processing and marketing EPS for a minimum of three years, which includes reporting on the volumes to FRC.
Application deadline is April 10, 2016. The first grant recipient will be announced in late spring.
For further information and grant application forms, visit www.fpi.org/recyclefoam.
