Arizona agency awards more than $500K to boost recycling.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has awarded more than $500,000 in funds to various municipal and public sector entities to boost recycling.

The money is from ADEQ's Waste Reduction Assistance grants program, which funds projects devoted to waste reduction, recycling and composting in the state.

Bullhead City received $25,000 for a new recycling drop-off program that will include three collection trailers. The city is partnering with Allied Waste and Sam's Club/Wal-Mart to implement the project. In addition, Bullhead City will receive $2,500 to promote the new recycling program through schools, cable advertising and direct mailings to all residents.

The city of Peoria received $200,000 to implement a citywide automated curbside recycling program to an estimated 45,500 households. The funds will be used to purchase recycling containers for residential use. The goal is to recycle at least 15 percent of material that would normally end up in the solid waste stream. In addition, Peoria received $62,000 to launch an automated commingled citywide recycling program for multi-family dwellings. Peoria's program will deliver wheeled bins and 300-gallon barrels to multifamily dwellings. The city also received $60,000 to promote the new recycling programs using school presentations, advertisements, newsletters, mailers, booths at special events, an instructional video and block parties.

The city of Litchfield Park received $45,400 to implement an educational outreach campaign targeting school children, local businesses and residents through public event appearances, advertising and school presentations. Litchfield Park will host a poster/slogan recycling contest for children, set up booths at special public events and create advertisements to educate residents about a new curbside recycling program.

The city of Tucson has been awarded $78,000 to fund recycling in Pima County. Tucson will use the grant to hold 12 one-day community household hazardous waste and computer equipment collection events throughout the 2008 fiscal year at six different locations in the Tucson area. Six more one-day collection events will be held at the Tucson Water Plant.

Arizona State University's Office of Research and Sponsored Projects in Tempe received $99,000 for a project to recycle construction debris containing plant cellulose into ethanol to be used as fuel. The goal of the program is to divert 80 tons of construction debris per day from landfills.

Under another grant, Mesa Community College (MOO) received $46,000 to increase the scope of its curbside commingled recycling program by expanding recycling to all campus buildings, providing recycling locations along public walkways and establishing used battery and light bulb collection sites on campus. This project will create two positions to coordinate the program. The college will partner with the city of Mesa to obtain more than 150 collection bins.

Cochise County has been awarded $60,000 to fund a study on recycling in general with a special concentration on establishing a permanent county facility to recycle electronic equipment and C&D debris.

The city of Phoenix's Public Works Department received $141,000 to implement a special events recycling program, which will divert much of the solid waste materials collected at 13 special events in the city of Phoenix. Phoenix will purchase an alternative-fuel truck with a rear-load compacter, a John Deere Gator tractor with a tilt bed and special-venue collection containers to implement this project. In addition, the city received $67,800 to expand its recycling program by purchasing new recycling containers to be used in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve to decrease the amount of recyclables currently going into the solid waste stream.

The Town of Quartzsite has been awarded $10,000 to purchase a wood chipper to reduce the amount of green waste in the La Paz County Landfill by an estimated 26 percent.