HUNTSVILLE – Several North Alabama cities, counties, solid waste authorities will share more than $2.5 million in grants from the Alabama Recycling Fund to boost recycling efforts.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management announced the recipients of the statewide grants at the recent Alabama Recycling Coalition’s Annual Conference and Expo at the Westin Huntsville.
“ADEM is delighted to be able again to award grants to assist and, in many cases, enable these worthy recycling projects,” ADEM Director Edward Poolos said in a statement. “This is the 17th year of the grant program, and we can clearly see the impact this funding is having as recycling continues to grow in Alabama.
“Every item that is recycled is one less item that ends up in a landfill or littered alongside our roads, on our land or in our water.”
The coalition, a statewide nonprofit organization that promotes waste reduction, material reuse, recycling and composting activities, is one of the grant recipients.
Totaling $2,529,388, the grants are made possible by the Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Management Act, passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2008.
The Alabama Recycling Coalition was awarded $51,500 to support recycling efforts throughout the state. The funding will be used to maintain, continue to develop and optimize the state recycling website, ALRecycles.org, which was funded with a 2025 grant.
The coalition will create content and implement a multi-media awareness campaign, as well as procure and distribute promotional items. The group will also host two ADEM grant workshops to ensure effective management and completion of recycling projects.
“One of the many benefits of this program is the partnership we have developed with local governments and local agencies to promote and advance recycling in the state,” Poolos said. “We are constantly looking for opportunities to boost the reuse of materials not only because it reduces disposal costs and landfill use, but because it also saves natural resources.
“These local groups are where recycling and preserving our resources begin.”
The grant recipients from North Alabama are:
- Albertville-Boaz Recycling Center: $155,756
- City of Florence Recycling Center: $145,585
- Shoals Solid Waste Disposal Authority: $86,279
- Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Huntsville: $42,010
- City of Decatur Recycling Facility: $375,000
- City of Gadsden Recycling Center: $52,782
- City of Guntersville Recycling Center: $92,718
- Lawrence County Solid Waste: $22,119
- Scottsboro Solid Waste Authority: $103,632
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