Politics & Government

Ocean County to Continue Recycling Grant Program in 2014

Ocean County will continue a program that awards grants to local municipalities to improve their recycling program, officials announced this week.

The county created the program in 2001 to assist municipalities in their efforts to maintain and upgrade local recycling centers, said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county’s recycling program

The county will distribute a total of $100,000 in grants this year. The maximum amount of funding for any single municipality that the county will provide for containers or educational material will not exceed $5,000 and the maximum amount for improvements to drop-off centers will not exceed $35,000. The municipality must provide a 50 percent match to the county grant.

“Making recycling convenient helps encourage the practice by our residents,” Lacey said. “These grants help with funding from the county so that municipal recycling centers can be state of the art and residents will want to use them.”

To date, the county has distributed more than $1 million in grants.

Grant application information will be distributed to the Ocean County municipalities that participate in the county’s recycling program, officials said. Applications must be returned to the county by April 25 and grant awardees are expected to be notified by June 6.

“Recycling comes with built in environmental and economic benefits,” said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. “It helps to save landfill space and our municipalities save on tipping fees at the landfill. This is a win-win program.”

Lacey said that in the past, the grants have funded more recycling containers in public places like parks and municipal complexes, improvements or development of resident recycling drop-off centers and creation of educational materials.


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