KDHE

TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Bureau of Waste Management is pleased to announce that 24 public and private applicants will receive grants in 2018 to reduce landfill disposal of solid waste. These grants were designed to support existing recycling and composting programs, and encourage the start-up of new programs especially in small and medium size communities. This year the grants totaled $409,439.

Area grant recipients include Fort Hays State University which will use its $22,973 to purchase a bale processor and supplies for one existing and one new composting site at the university.

Bird City, Oakley, Osborne County, Phillips County, Smith County and Thomas County also are grant recipients.

These competitive grants are authorized by state law and funded by the $1.00 per ton landfill tonnage fee. Hundreds of communities have received waste reduction grants from the late 1990s to the present to improve local waste reduction practices in nearly every Kansas County. These grants along with local commitments to reduce waste and years of technical training has yielded a statewide recycling rate of about 31 percent.

Each grant application required an educational component to increase awareness of the benefits associated with recycling, composting, or other waste reduction activities.

For a list of grantees visit http://www.kdheks.gov/waste/about_grants.html and click the link titled “Round 1 – State Fiscal Year 2018” under the Grant Awardees heading.

For more information on KDHE’s waste reduction grant opportunities and application procedures, contact the Bureau of Waste Management at (785) 296-1600, or visit www.kdheks.gov/waste.