Green Team gets grant to spread recycling message

YOUNGSTOWN — Starting this year and with the assistance of a $75,500 grant, the Mahoning County dropoff recycling program will be able to provide additional services.

The Mahoning County Solid Waste District, also known as the Green Team, has joined the Ohio EPA and The Recycling Partnership.

The Partnership is a mission-driven, nongovernmental organization that works with communities, companies and governments to transform recycling — to help the public recycle more and recycle better.

The Mahoning County dropoff recycling program also will offer educational outreach, engage with patrons at dropoff recycling sites and make infrastructure improvements to help patrons more easily participate in the their local recycling program and understand what is and is not recyclable.

The Mahoning County commissioners, through the Green Team, are contributing more than $40,000 in matching funds that will help amplify the impact of this grant program, according to a news release from the Green Team.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do,” Mahoning County Solid Waste District Director Lou Vega said.

“Recycling properly saves our programs money by lowering processing fees, reducing the cost of sending recyclable materials to the landfill, supports jobs and improves the health of the environment,” he said. “We know residents want to recycle the right way and through this campaign, we are providing them personalized, real-time feedback to do that.”

“The Recycling Partnership is excited to continue working with Ohio EPA and Ohio communities to improve quality, capture and participation for recycling programs across the state,” said Samantha Longshore, community program manager at The Recycling Partnership.

“Through this project, we’re supporting great work on the ground and helping communities strengthen their recycling programs. By reducing waste and improving capture of recyclables, we’re creating jobs, supporting manufacturing supply chains and growing resilient communities,” she said.

This year, $180,000 in grant funding will be awarded directly to three recycling program grantees, representing more than 190,000 households across six counties in Ohio.

In addition to funding from the Ohio EPA and technical support, education and outreach assistance from The Recycling Partnership, this grant includes additional support from Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Waste Management. These three new grantees are building on the impact made during a 2019 project focusing on quality improvement of curbside recycling programs across Ohio that reached 99,000 households.