Wood Recycling Grants

The Money Trail

• Recycling grants typically trickle down from the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection to the states and then to the municipalities who actually deal with many recyling issues. Under Pennsylvania's Act 101, for example, the state funds municipal waste planning and recycling. This includes guidelines for composting and leaf waste disposal. It also includes two grants called the Section 902 and Section 904 grants. Pennsylvania municipalities apply for these grants. Section 904 grants reimburse municipalities for the tons of recycling they produce. The 902 grants, equipment grants, fund the cost of equipment needed, including wood chippers and leaf vacuumes, for instance. Check your state's agencies for similar recycling grant sources.

Environmental Sustainability Grants

• The Environmental Sustainability grant program, listed on the federal Grants.gov website, funds engineering research projects that promote sustainable engineered systems. The project you propose should encourage the well-being of the public and simultaneously support natural environmental systems. By touting the ability of the wood recycling business to decrease landfill problems while simultaneously creating jobs and producing a useable product (wood chips and top soil), you may find funding for engineering research of wood recycling practices. Grants may not exceed $100,000 per project. The program is expected to fund 45 projects during 2012. Each project lasts five years. Your proposal for grant funding should explain what novel approach your propose and its potential for improving life for both Americans and the environment.

Public Works and Economic Development Facilities Grants

• The Economic Development Administration reviews and funds Public Works and Economic Development Facilities Grants on a quarterly basis. These grants propose help for distressed communities. Grant funding, therefore, favors projects in economically distressed communities in the U.S. If your organization's grant application proposes higher wages and sustainable jobs in a distressed community, you may win funding. Governments, tribes, colleges and nonprofit organizations may apply. Individuals proposing to start or expand a wood recycling business should apply to their local or state economic development agencies --not to the Economic Development Administration -- for funding.

Economic Adjustment Assistance Grants

• Economic Adjustment Assistance Grants award funding on a quarterly basis, providing assistance to regions experiencing severe economic problems. Projects include construction and nonconstruction assistance and public works projects such as the recycling of branches, shrubs, tree limbs or scrap wood. All levels of government, colleges, universities, tribal governments and other non-profit organizations may apply if its project provides help for an area facing difficult economic adjustment challenges. Grants range from $100,000 to $1,250,000. Project periods vary from one to three years in length. Like the Public Works and Economic Development Facilities Grants in Section 2, for-profit businesses and individuals do not qualify to win these grants directly, but they may apply for assistance at nonprofit economic development organizations or at state and local agencies.