Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is an historic investment in the health, equity, and resilience of American communities, providing unprecedented funding to support local waste management infrastructure and recycling programs as well as improve public education and outreach. For more information, check out a fact sheet (pdf) about how BIL funding is transforming U.S. recycling and waste management.
On this page:
- Overview
- Eligible Applicants
- Projects and Objectives
- Available Funding
- Award Process and Timeline
- How to Apply
- Resources
- Webinar
- Updates
- Round One Grant Information
Overview
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $75 million total from Fiscal Year 2022 to Fiscal Year 2026 for grants to fund a new Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program.
Applications for Round One of this opportunity opened in 2022, with selectees announced in 2023. The application period for Round Two of this funding opportunity opens in September 2024 and closes on December 20, 2024. (Refer to the "How to Apply" section below for additional details.)
For this second round of REO funding, EPA is focusing on preventing the generation of wasted food and increasing its recycling through composting. The program provides $39 million to fund one cooperative agreement that includes developing and implementing a national consumer wasted food reduction campaign, expanding the market for and sales of compost, and increasing education and outreach to households on composting.
Eligible Applicants
A range of expertise is necessary to develop and implement a national wasted food reduction campaign, including social marketing, behavioral science, media relations, creative development, website development, materials and collateral creation, collaborator recruitment and development, local campaign implementation support, and campaign evaluation. This funding opportunity requires all applicants to submit coalition applications.
In your application, you must identify the primary applicant ("lead applicant")/recipient of the grant ("grant recipient"), responsible for any grant awarded under this program. You must also identify the subrecipients ("coalition members"). Read the NOFO (pdf) for details on how to submit a coalition application, including the process, timeline, and requirements for submitting a Memorandum of Agreement.
The entities eligible to apply for this grant (either as lead applicant or as coalition member) are:
- U.S. States, including Washington, D.C.
- Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.
- Local governments.
- Indian Tribes.
- Native Hawaiian organizations, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
- Nonprofit organizations.
- Public-private partnerships.
Projects and Objectives
EPA anticipates funding one opportunity with three projects.
- Project 1: Develop and Implement a National Consumer Wasted Food Reduction Campaign. This project’s objective is to decrease wasted food from households.
- Project 2: Expand the Market and Sales of Compost. This project’s objective is to expand markets for and sales of compost.
- Project 3: Increase Education and Outreach to Households on Composting. This project’s objective is to:
- Inform the public about new or existing residential food waste composting programs.
- Provide information about the materials that are accepted as part of a residential food waste composting program.
- Increase collection rates and decrease physical contamination in residential food waste composting programs.
Please refer to the NOFO for more information (pdf).
Available Funding
The total estimated funding for this competitive opportunity is $39,094,000. Applications must include all three projects as listed above.
| Project Number | Description | Funding Range |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Develop and Implement a National Consumer Wasted Food Reduction Campaign |
$30,000,000 to $34,094,000 |
|
2 |
Expand the Market and Sales of Compost |
$5,000,000 to $9,094,000 (combined) |
|
3 |
Increase Education and Outreach to Households on Composting |
This program aligns with the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. This means that applicants must demonstrate in their proposals that 40% of the overall benefits created by the projects funded in this assistance agreement will flow to disadvantaged communities. Please refer to the NOFO for details (pdf).
Award Process and Timeline
How to Apply
Applicants must submit applications through Grants.gov. Applicants should read the read the NOFO (pdf) for the full solicitation. The NOFO includes a full description of the funding opportunity, including information about the award and its administration, applicant eligibility, and the application submission and review process.
Resources
- Funding Opportunity in Grants.gov.
- REO Notice of Funding Opportunity (pdf) (Closes on December 20, 2024).
- Optional Resources (please note that use of these resources is optional and applicants who do not use them will not be penalized):
- REO Project Narrative Attachment Form (docx) (includes the Summary Information Cover Letter and the Narrative Proposal).
- REO Budget Table and Description Spreadsheet (xlsx) .
- REO Milestones (docx) .
- REO Application Checklist (pdf) .
- Questions and Answers: REO Grant Program Round Two.
- Prepare for a Grant.
- EPA Grants Management Training and Resources.
- A Quick Reference Guide for Evaluating Progress and Reporting Achievements Over Time (pdf) .
- .
- Model Recycling Program Toolkit.
Webinar
EPA recorded a webinar about this funding opportunity. In it, EPA provides an overview of the NOFO, eligible entities, evaluation criteria, information about subawards and recipients, and the application process.
Updates
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Need More Help?
If you have questions about the grants, email RecyclingEd@epa.gov.
Round One Grant Information
EPA received applications for funding from 303 eligible entities, requesting a total of approximately $332.7 million in funding. On November 15, 2023, EPA announced the 25 selectees for the Recycling Education and Outreach Grants.