EPA Region 7 Brownfields, Redevelopment and Reuse Branch Chief Stan Walker presented a $1 million ceremonial check to the Boonslick Regional Planning Commission, which EPA selected for a Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant. The ceremony was Oct. 26.

Walker was joined in Warrenton, Missouri, by Warren County Presiding Commissioner Joe Gildehaus and Boonslick Regional Planning Commission Chairman Ryan Poston. 

The commission will use the funds to expand the East Central Solid Waste Management District by buying a truck, a trailer, and a Styrofoam compactor, as well as building a new storage house with a concrete driveway. These actions will help the East Central Missouri Recycling Center create 20 staffed drop-off locations throughout the four-county region of Warren, Lincoln, Montgomery, and Franklin counties in Missouri. A new worker will be hired to transfer these materials and staff each of the 20 locations once a month. 

“EPA is proud to see these funds go to the BRPC to support their efforts in creating a cleaner and healthier environment throughout their service region,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “By increasing their recycling capacity, the BPRC is supporting the circular economy, reducing waste by providing a second life for consumer goods.” 

“We are excited that the BRPC has been awarded this project through EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant program,” Poston said. “This grant will increase and improve the capacities of the East Central Missouri Recycling Center. The outcomes of this opportunity will greatly impact our community and will allow residents of the Boonslick Region and surrounding areas further access to recycling drop-off locations, as well as increase the amount of materials that the Recycling Center handles.”

Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda that is growing the American economy from the bottom-up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure to driving over $470 billion in private-sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant program is also advancing President Joe Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. Approximately $56 million out of the $73 million (or 76 percent) of the total funding for communities will go toward projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.