Kootenai Tribe lands grant for recycling

November 15, 2023


Today, on America Recycles Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $34,874,064 in Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grants and $3,595,736 in Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) grants in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The grants are funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will expand recycling infrastructure and education for waste management systems in states, tribes and communities across the region.

“Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are expanding federal funding for local and tribal priorities that improve environmental health,” said EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller. “These funds will help advance innovative recycling services, resulting in good-paying jobs and repurposing useful resources that would otherwise end up in landfills.”

The grants support the implementation of EPA’s National Recycling Strategy to build an economy devoted to keeping materials, products, and services in circulation for as long as possible – what’s known as a “circular economy.” Recycling grants will also help tackle consumer confusion and outdated recycling infrastructure, the largest barriers to proper recycling.

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho ($530,222) Develop a food and yard waste composting program for Boundary County, Idaho and the Kootenai Indian Reservation to decrease the amount of solid waste going to the landfill through composting, recycling and education.

The Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grant program, authorized by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides $275 million for Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants nationwide. In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $75 million for the Recycling Education and Outreach grant program to improve the effectiveness of residential and community recycling and composting programs.