RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Recycling Program recently provided $492,937 in recycling business development grants to 16 North Carolina recycling companies. The grants are projected to create 108 new jobs and generate more than $1.3 million in new, private business investments while reducing the state’s dependence on landfill disposal.
“Recycling businesses provide high quality jobs for North Carolinians and play a unique role in boosting the state’s economy while improving the state’s environmental and carbon footprint,” said Jamie Ragan, director of the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service. “These grant-funded projects will create jobs and put recyclable materials back into the state’s economy, thereby helping manufacturers make new products, reducing North Carolina’s reliance on foreign markets and ultimately diverting material from the waste stream.”
For the fourth year in a row, DEQ gave priority to projects that improve North Carolina’s capacity to domestically process and use mixed paper and non-bottle plastics, which can no longer be exported to foreign countries. Strengthening local markets leads to more resilient recycling programs and better value for these materials when diverted from landfill disposal.
The recycling business grantees are from 13 counties, representing both large and small companies. Types of grant projects awarded include expanding plastic processing capacity, upgrading material recovery facilities and improving recycling markets for other materials.
Grants are offered each year, depending on funding availability, to reduce the flow of solid waste into landfills and continue growing the state’s recycling economy. Recipients are required to provide a minimum cash match of 50 percent of the grant award; however, the level of private investment in 2021 is expected to more than double the total grant funding. The combination of grant and private dollars will result in a nearly $1.8 million investment in the state’s recycling infrastructure.
The Recycling Business Assistance Center (RBAC) in DEQ’s Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service works one-on-one with recycling companies to provide technical, business and financial assistance. In the past five years, RBAC has awarded more than $2.8 million in grant funding to 64 recycling companies statewide. It has led to more than $9.9 million in private investment, created more than 215 new, full-time jobs and facilitated an additional 8.5 million tons of diversion from landfill disposal.
A full list of the 16 grant recipients and descriptions of the projects can be found below or at: https://deq.nc.gov/conservation/recycling-business-assistance/financing/grants.
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|
GRANTEE |
GRANT AMOUNT |
JOB CREATION |
COUNTY |
PROJECT SUMMARY |
|
American Recycling |
$ 50,000 |
3 |
Buncombe |
American Recycling will purchase an optical sorter to expand collection and processing of polypropylene bottles and containers. |
|
AMES Copper Group |
$ 30,000 |
46 |
Cleveland |
AMES will purchase a spectrometer for the company’s new copper smelting facility to achieve quality specifications and maximize the breadth and volume of copper material recycled. |
|
Brunson Recycling |
$ 36,979 |
5 |
McDowell |
Brunson Recycling will purchase an aspirator and rotary drum to expand and improve industrial plastics recycling. |
|
Cardinal Recycling |
$ 20,000 |
3 |
Rockingham |
Cardinal Recycling will purchase a baler with a conveyer to increase processing capacity for industrial plastics, film and cardboard. |
|
Clear Path Recycling |
$ 40,000 |
4 |
Cumberland |
Clear Path will purchase a grinder system to recover mixed color plastic bottle flake. |
|
EnviroVision |
$ 30,000 |
28 |
Gaston |
EnviroVision will purchase a shredder conveyor system to support their new service of collecting, reusing, and recycling 96-gallon carts coming out of service. |
|
Global Circle Recycling |
$ 30,000 |
4 |
Gaston |
Global Circle will purchase a shredder and regrind system to process additional industrial plastics. |
|
Mahan & Huff |
$ 11,000 |
2 |
Guilford |
Mahan & Huff will purchase tractor trailers to expand their styrofoam recycling program. |
|
McGill Environmental |
$ 20,000 |
0 |
Sampson |
McGill will purchase a radial stacker to effectively move and store finished products to minimize handling and maintain product quality. |
|
New East Recycling & Container |
$ 11,000 |
1 |
Pitt |
New East will purchase 20-yard and 30-yard roll-off recycling dumpsters to expand construction and demolition debris recycling. |
|
North Davidson Garbage Service |
$ 25,000 |
0 |
Davidson |
North Davidson Garbage Service will purchase a wheel loader to manage incoming mixed recycling loads more safely and effectively, leading to better productivity and improved material quality. |
|
Plastic Network |
$ 25,000 |
5 |
Lincoln |
Plastic Network will purchase silos to store material and facilitate product blending, allowing the company to expand specifications for plastics that can be accepted and recycled. |
|
Shimar |
$ 47,333 |
2 |
Durham |
Shimar will purchase a forklift and a truck to recycle lab plastics from area research institutions and businesses. |
|
Sonoco Recycling - Raleigh |
$ 50,000 |
0 |
Wake |
Sonoco will purchase an optical sorter to separate fiber and non-fiber recyclables leading to increased recovery rates, less contamination, and better commodity values. |
|
Strategic Materials |
$ 36,625 |
0 |
Durham |
Strategic Materials will purchase a new collection truck to ensure reliable collection of recyclable beverage containers for customers throughout the state. |
|
Synergy Recycling |
$ 30,000 |
5 |
Rockingham |
Synergy will install a new processing line to separate cathode ray tube (CRT) glass for further processing. |
|
TOTALS |
$492,937 |
108 |
|
|