USDA Rural Grant

The Carolina Recycling Association (CRA) has been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assist rural and small community residential commingled or source separated recycling programs in North and South Carolina. The purpose of this grant will fund the purchase and distribution of education and outreach materials for these communities in order to help educate citizens on what can be recycled in their respective communities and to combat recycling contamination.

Applicants should carefully read this entire application before completing. 

 

Application Due Date:
Applications will be accepted until 5:00 pm on Friday, May 14, 2021.

Eligible Entities:

  • Rural local governments, defined as counties, municipalities, councils of governments and solid waste authorities in North and South Carolina.
  • Private or nonprofit haulers that provide recycling collection services to rural communities.
  • Programs offering residential curbside collection or county convenience center drop-off recycling programs.
  • For the purpose of this grant, a rural community as defined by USDA has a population of 10,000 or less. To determine if your community is rural, please go to the USDA eligibility map website below. Once on the site, click on Water and Environment Direct link, read and accept the property eligibility disclaimer, and add a sample address from your intended distribution area to check for eligibility. If you’re unsure of your eligibility, please submit your application and drop us a note at [email protected] and we will work with you on it.

Available Funding:
Actual funds will not be dispersed to the community.  A selection of targeted outreach and educational materials will be ordered and purchased by CRA on behalf of the community and direct mailing of materials will also be paid by CRA.

Communities can choose to have educational materials direct mailed to households, if the community has mailing lists that can be provided via you community’s tax department or GIS department. Alternatively, educational materials can be mailed to the community to be distributed internally.

Funding will be paid at $1.95 per household with a maximum award of $11,200 per community (including printing).  For example, if a community has 1,000 households, the community can choose a maximum of $1,995 worth of educational materials.  Materials direct mailed to households will also be paid by the grant through CRA and is not included in the $1.95 per household award. Values of materials are noted in the selection menu in the application.

Educational Materials:
Applicants can choose between a variety of available outreach and educational templates that can be customized based on the recyclable materials accepted by the community’s commingled or source separated program. (click thumbnail to preview image)

 

NC Acceptable Recycling
Magnet

NC Acceptable Recycling Postcard

Anti-Contamination Postcard – NC One Issue

NC Oops Cart Tag

NC Cart Sticker

NC Materials

SC Acceptable Recycling
Magnet

SC Acceptable Recycling
Postcard

Anti-Contamination Postcard – SC Dirty Dozen

SC Oops Cart Tag

SC Cart Sticker

SC Materials


If your community recently worked with NCDEQ or SCDHEC and has ready-to-print items of the templates, the grant will allow for up to $1.95 per household per community for printing of current materials.

Grant Project Period:

Applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, May 14, 2021.  Applicants selected to receive a grant funding will be notified by May 28, 2021. All grants funds must be spent by CRA by September 30. It is anticipated that all education materials will be ordered, direct mailed to households, or delivered in bulk to the grant recipients in the July-September 30 timeframe. CRA will administer a follow up post grant survey in the last quarter of 2021 or first quarter of 2022 timeframe.

Grant Requirements:

  • Completed application
  • Only one application per eligible entity will be accepted.
  • Post grant survey completion 3-6 months after community receives educational materials.

Apply for 2021 Grant Funding

Contact information:
CRA has hired the consultancy, RRS, to assist with the management of the grant program, if you  have any questions about the application, please contact Sherry Yarkosky at 646-456-5594 or Matt Todd at 919-824-7377 or by emailing to [email protected]