City of Greenville Receives Recycling Partnership Grant

GREENVILLE, SC – The City of Greenville has received a $125,000 grant from national recycling nonprofit The Recycling Partnership to assist with the conversion to an automated recycling collection system. The Recycling Partnership helps communities transform their recycling programs through technical support, education programs and city grants. The majority of the grant funding ($100,000) will be used to purchase new recycling roll carts, and the remaining portion will be used to provide education and outreach to city residents about the new system. In addition to the funding, The Recycling Partnership will also provide the City with technical and operational assistance. The Recycling Partnership has selected only two other grant recipients this year.

The City expects to begin distributing the new 96-gallon recycling roll carts in April 2016, and in addition to increasing the volume of materials that residents will be able to recycle curbside, the City also plans to increase the types of plastic materials that it collects at the curb. According to Allison Brockman, the City’s recycling coordinator, The Recycling Partnership’s mission and grant program aligned well with the City’s endeavor to convert its existing recycling program to an automated cart-based collection system, and the two-pronged support stemming from the collaboration—funding and technical assistance—is invaluable as the City undertakes this major change. “Once fully implemented, the recycling roll cart collection system will deliver numerous benefits to the Greenville community, including improved residential recycling rates, less waste entering the landfill and, most importantly, a more convenient method for residents to recycle more at the curbside,” said Brockman. “Working with The Recycling Partnership will help ensure that the transition to the new recycling collection system in 2016 is as seamless as possible for Greenville residents.”