At SWACO, we believe strongly that everyone has the power to make a fundamental difference in creating a safer, more sustainable community and to help meet our aggressive goals to increase recycling and diversion of materials away from the landfill. But we also recognize that community projects and programs addressing these needs in central Ohio often don’t come to fruition without resources and support.  

To meet this need, SWACO is proud to announce we are now accepting applications for our 2022 Community Waste Reduction Grant (CWRG) program. 

To meet this need, SWACO is proud to announce we are now accepting applications for our 2022 Community Waste Reduction Grant (CWRG) program. These grants – ranging anywhere from $500 to $35,000 – provide financial support to offset the cost of innovative waste reduction and materials diversion programs throughout Franklin County. 

The goal of the CWRG program is to increase Franklin County's recycling rate of 50 percent by funding innovative projects that address community waste reduction needs, emphasize partnership building and collaboration, address opportunities to leverage the waste stream for community benefit, and have the ability to be modeled throughout central Ohio. 

The CWRG program is open to all governmental entities including parks, cities, townships and villages, schools, universities, and colleges and non-profit organizations, and invites proposals for projects to be undertaken in 2022 which uniquely address diversion and waste reduction needs in central Ohio.

Grants are competitively awarded and support efforts focused on diverting materials from the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill through: 

• Waste Reduction & Reuse
• Recycling
• Organic Waste & Food Waste Diversion 
• Outreach, Education & Awareness

 Past Waste Reduction Grant recipient organizations include:

 Franklinton Cycle Works: Grant funding increased the non-profits capacity to store and transfer scrap materials to the recycling yard; keeping these materials out of the landfill and circulating through our economy. 

Franklinton Farms: Grant funding supported the resurrection of a composting program and helped the organization purchase a skid steer for turning composting piles which allowed them to receive additional compostable material. In the first 5 months following receipt of the new equipment, Franklinton Farms was able to compost over 10 tons of food waste. 

Hilliard City Schools: SWACO’s grant award helped to improve and expand the school district’s recycling program.  Grant funding assisted the district in purchasing recycling containers for classrooms and common areas within the middle and high schools and the central office. SWACO also provided technical expertise and resources for the implementation of educational materials and signage for the containers.  

Otterbein University: Grant funding supported the university with installing 17 refillable water bottle filling stations and providing incoming freshman students with reusable water bottles significantly reducing the amount of plastic water bottle waste being generated on campus.  

The CWRG program taps into the passion and expertise of individual organizations while building capacity and enabling partners to work towards goals at a higher level. Interested participants are encouraged to apply today.  

For more information on how to apply to SWACO’s CWRG program, click here. 

• Download the 2022 Application Package at this link. 
• Please register for our CWRG informational webinar on Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.

Together, we can make a difference.