Investment and innovation grants aim to build lasting private and non-profit sector capacity to reduce waste by reusing, recycling, composting, or using waste materials in metropolitan areas to create energy. They seek to strengthen local efforts to reduce the amount and toxicity of waste while bringing positive benefits to communities of color and other communities that have not historically benefited from garbage and recycling systems. Capital grants are designed to stimulate investment by private companies and non-profit organizations to create, expand, protect and expand efforts to reduce the impact of the entire life cycle of products. They are usually used for infrastructure upgrades and equipment, and require applicants to provide at least 100% matching of the grant amount. Nine capital projects will receive funding from Metro’s investment and innovation programs in 2019-20. Metro’s total investment is US$5,597,496, which will utilize additional matching funds provided by grant recipients of US$6,699,496. The recipients of the 2019-20 investment and innovation capital grants are:
Grant amount: $311,500 Matching amount: $311,500 Total amount: $623,000
City of Roses Disposal & Recycling will install an overhead sorting line to replace the existing floor sorting process to increase the dry waste recovery rate and improve working conditions. It is estimated that the recovery rate of dry waste will increase from 50% to 60%. The grant funds will be used for construction, equipment (processing lines, wire pelletizers and pre-shredders) and professional services.
Grant amount: $684,496 Matching amount: $684,496 Total amount: $1,368,992
Denton Plastics will install Eco-Line, a series of four new equipment that will expand production capacity and improve performance to further process plastics into raw materials for manufacturers. The project is aimed at materials such as plastic containers used in grocery stores, restaurants, and nurseries. These materials are currently too dirty to be processed, or they will be discarded. Denton estimates that Eco-Line will process 4,680 to 6,240 tons of materials each year, otherwise these materials will be sent to landfills. The grant funds will be used for equipment, construction, materials and professional services.
Grant amount: $310,000 Matching amount: $312,000 Total amount: $622,000
Environmental Fibers International will install new equipment to recover more than 65% of the "bottom layer", which is the small materials (shredded paper, small paper scraps, plastic fragments, and small metals) that have fallen through sorting and screening and are currently being landfilled. EFI estimates that as a result, 160 tons of mixed paper and containers can be recycled every month. The grant funds will be used for equipment, materials and supplies, and professional services.
Grant amount: $750,000 Matching amount: $750,000 Total amount: $1,500,000
GreenWay Recycling will establish an advanced dry waste recycling system, equipped with new equipment and processes to increase the recycling rate of major construction and demolition materials. GreenWay's overall recycling rate is expected to increase from 41% to 56%. By separating workers from processing machinery (removing dust and noise hazards), workplace conditions will be improved. The grant funds will be used for conveyors, ballistic sorters and terminator drop-off machines, and a small part of the budget will be allocated to the diversity, fairness and inclusiveness consulting services that the construction hopes to provide.
Grant amount: $750,000 Matching amount: $750,000 Total amount: $1,500,000
Grimm's Fuel Company modernized its composting system from static piles to aerated static composting to reduce odors and increase yard waste recycling capacity by 50% to 60%. The grant is used for the second phase of a larger project, including clearing the land, building partition walls, laying ventilation and drainage pipes, pouring concrete floors, and installing blowers, dampers, biological filters and related process control equipment. The grant will also be used for bucket loaders to accommodate the additional material movement of the new composting system.
Grant amount: $750,000 Matching amount: $1,850,000 Total amount: $2,600,000
Pioneer Recycling Services will install an optical sorter on the existing sorting line to remove contaminants (plastic, metal and garbage) and produce higher quality paper bags than manual sorters. This equipment will enable Pioneer to produce higher quality bales that are more suitable for recycling and meet strict end market quality specifications. The grant funds will be used for color sorting machines and related construction, materials and supply costs.
Grant amount: $750,000 Matching amount: $750,000 Total amount: $1,500,000
Recology Oregon Compost will create two large beds for active composting, replacing six small beds and expanding the existing curing pads. The project is expected to increase the processing capacity of residential and commercial food residues and yard waste by 44,000 tons per year. The grant funds will be used for the cost of construction, permits, equipment, materials and supplies, and professional services.
Grant amount: $750,000 Matching amount: $750,000 Total amount: $1,500,000
Recology Oregon Compost will create two large beds for active composting and expand the existing curing mats. The project is expected to increase the processing capacity of residential food residues and yard waste by 24,000 tons per year. In addition, Recology will improve rainwater and leachate infrastructure, and implement operational changes to improve on-site traffic flow. The grant funds will be used for construction, equipment and professional services.
Grant amount: $541,500 Matching amount: $541,500 Total amount: $1,083,000
Urban Gypsum will install new equipment to pelletize and package the recycled drywall powder to produce gypsum products for agriculture. Urban Gypsum will be able to process at least 66,875 tons of gypsum board each year. As part of this project, Urban Gypsum is committed to working with Constructing Hope to provide diversity, fairness and inclusion consulting services. The grant funds will be used for construction costs and purchase of processing and storage equipment and bagging systems.
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