Grants awarded under newly established Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), Sacramento, has issued $19.5 million in grant money to eight projects in the state that CalRecycle says will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The grant money will be used for construction of new facilities, expansion of existing facilities and equipment upgrades to process more recycled materials. The grants, using proceeds from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, are awarded based primarily on contributions to the state’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.
CalRecycle says the projects also are important in the state’s effort to reach its statewide goal of 75 percent recycling, composting and source reduction by 2020.
“These projects will directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by keeping material out of landfills through composting, recycling and waste prevention,” says CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen. “By providing financial incentives for capital investment, we can expand the infrastructure needed to divert more material to secondary uses, which will help create jobs and strengthen our ability to manage materials to their highest and best uses.”
The Budget Act of 2014 authorized CalRecycle to issue grants that result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions. CalRecycle allocated $14.5 million for organics projects and $5 million for fiber, plastic and glass projects. CalRecycle worked with the Air Resources Board, which is responsible for California’s cap-and-trade program.
Proceeds from cap-and-trade program fund the programs supported by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Grant applicants were required to be new or expanded infrastructure projects, calculate greenhouse gas reductions, reduce landfill disposal and include a thorough work plan including a readiness to move forward quickly. Preference points were given to projects that benefit disadvantaged communities as recently designated by the California Environmental Protection Agency for the purpose of investing greenhouse gas reduction funds.
Five of the eight projects are located in disadvantaged communities, and about 55 percent of the $19.5 million will be used in those areas.
Under CalRecycle’s Organics Grant Program, five entities were selected for funding via a competitive scoring process from among 51 applicants requesting a total of $119 million. The maximum grant award is $3 million per project.
Recipients of the grant money are:
- CR&R Inc., Perris, will receive $3 million to expand its current anaerobic digestion facility at its Perris Transfer Station and MRF. The expansion will double its processing capacity, resulting in the diversion of an additional 229 tons of organic material from landfills per day. The organics will be recycled into natural gas and organic soil amendments.
- Colony Energy Partners, Tulare and Fresno, will receive $2.9 million to build a high-solids anaerobic co-digestion facility that will divert more than 110,000 tons of waste from landfills each year. The organics will be converted into natural gas for injection into the natural gas grid and distributed through an on-site fueling station for use as a transportation fuel. As part of the waste diversion activities, Fresno Metro Ministry will expand the Fresno Food Recovery Network and divert an additional 65 tons of food per year from landfills and provide it to those in need.
- Mid Valley Disposal Inc., Kerman, will receive $3 million for a new covered, aerated, static-pile composting operation at its MRF and transfer station, diverting an additional 42,100 tons of material from landfills each year.
- Recology East Bay Organics, Oakland and San Francisco, will receive $3 million for processing equipment to extract organic material intermingled with mixed solid waste. The diverted organic material will be anaerobically digested to produce biomethane, which will be used to power the East Bay Municipal Utility District wastewater treatment plant. Surplus power will be sold to the Port of Oakland. The project will divert an additional 20,400 tons of material from landfills each year.
- Burrtec Waste Industries Inc., Victorville, will receive $2.5 million to build a covered, aerated, static-pile composting operation and a mixed-waste processing facility. The compost project will divert an additional 30,800 tons of material from landfills each year.
Under CalRecycle’s Recycled Fiber, Plastic, and Glass Grant Program, three California businesses received grant money. The maximum grant award is $3 million per project. Recipients are:
- Command Packaging, Vernon, which manufactures reusable plastic carry-out bags, will receive $3 million to upgrade its facility equipment to produce bags with higher recycled content that can be reused up to 125 times and ultimately be recycled. The funding will also help expand capacity at its Salinas-area Encore Recycling facility, which diverts agricultural film plastic and drip tape from landfills for use by Command in its bag-making operation.
- Peninsula Plastics Recycling Inc., Turlock, will receive $1 million for equipment that will enable it to recover about 45 percent of its current recycling process by-product and recycle it into landscaping material.
- Sonoco Products Co., City of Industry, will receive $1 million for new equipment to recover and process more recyclable fiber and for new paper-drying equipment to accelerate and thus increase production.
