Skokomish tribe receives $1.35M recycling grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a $1.35 million grant to the Skokomish Tribe to improve solid waste and recycling on the reservation.

The grant awards were announced on Nov. 15, "America Recycles Day." A news release from the EPA states the agency gave $34.9 million in Solid Waste Infrastructure grants and almost $3.6 million in Recycling Education grants in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

The Skokomish tribe will use the grant to build a drop-box transfer station for tribal members and other residents.

The grants are funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and will expand recycling, infrastructure and education for waste management systems in states, tribes and communities. The Solid Waste Infrastructure to Recycling grant program, authorized by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, provides $275 million for Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants nationwide.

"Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are expanding federal funding for local and tribal priorities that improve environmental health," EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller said in the news release. "These funds will help advance innovative recycling services, resulting in good-paying jobs and repurposing useful resources that would otherwise end up in landfills."

According to the EPA, the grants support the implementation of the agency's National Recycling Strategy to build an economy devoted to keeping materials, products and services in circulation as long as possible in what is known as a "circular economy." Recycling grants will also help tackle consumer confusion and outdated recycling infrastructure, the largest barriers to proper recycling, the EPA states.

Other tribes in Washington are benefitting as well. The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe received a $888,415 grant to expand composting efforts to accommodate the collection of biodegradable materials from the surrounding rural community and businesses with a new municipal composting facility.

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe will use a $365,085 grant to develop a casino waste identification, reduction and recycling program and form a "Green Team" to work collaboratively on waste reduction, recycling and other projects that will create the infrastructure to reduce solid waste on the tribe's reservation.

The EPA also gave $1.5 million to the Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network to create a pilot program for rural Washington tribes to develop small recycling programs, including purchasing equipment, training employees and communities, creating a composting program and end market research to support collaboration for recycling in small tribal communities.