NRC Receives Two Grants from Nebraska Environmental Trust
Published July 06, 2020
We are pleased to announce that Nebraska Recycling Council has received two grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust. We have been awarded $290,016 for the “Recycling Equipment Grants and Consultation” project and $145,900 for the “Feedlot Composting Planning” project. The projects are two of the 118 projects receiving $20,000,000 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year.
Recycling Equipment Grants and Consultation
The Recycling Equipment Grant program has been active for 22 years, funding smaller grants for recycling equipment of now up to $20,000 each. The funding will cover equipment grant funds, salaries for grants administration and consultation, travel to verify equipment purchases and provide consultation, and a portion of NRC operating costs and supplies.
Our objectives for this grant cycle are to:
- Provide grant funding to communities and private entities across the State of Nebraska for purchasing recycling equipment that will improve recycling & composting programs and increase waste diversion from landfills.
- Gather information from, and provide consultation to communities and service providers that will improve recycling capacity in their region through public/private partnerships.
- Facilitate partnerships that will increase volumes collected and improve economic outcomes of rural recycling programs by pooling resources.
- Expand NRC’s geographical representation of Advisory Council to help provide perspectives on resource recovery strategies for Nebraska.
Feedlot Composting Planning
This project, in a collaboration between NRC and the Nebraska Business Development Center at UNK, will test the viability of creating compost at feedlot sites for cropland use. The large quantities of organic wastes generated by animal feeding operations, when combined with yard and wood waste collected by municipalities, could provide valuable field scale fertilizer that is better for soil and water health than manure alone, while also reducing costs for municipalities and providing a value-added product for feedlots and/or compost operations. If the details of this business model were better understood, it could provide a pathway to business partnerships between feedlots, municipalities, and growers, leading to improved soil health, water quality, and lower greenhouse gas emissions in Nebraska.
The purpose of this project is 1) to analyze business scenarios for feedlots, compost operators, and municipalities to create compost by combining feedlot manure, and municipal yard and wood waste at feedlot sites; 2) to gain an understanding of stakeholder behaviors, perceptions, knowledge and motivation around public/private partnerships and the use of this product on cropland; and 3) to share the findings in a written report, webinar, and web pages.
