Cutting Pollution In Riverside County: CA Hands Out Grants

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — On Tuesday, April 22 — Earth Day 2021 — the state of California announced $25 million in new community investments "to combat the climate crisis and the pandemic-fueled surge of single-use trash pollution."

More than $2 million of that funding from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is coming to Riverside County. The money will be used for trash reduction and recycling infrastructure, as well as the reuse or remanufacturing of used products and packaging.

Here's what's coming to Riverside County:

The biggest award by far went to Perris-based Global Plastics Recycling, Inc. The company is receiving $1,550,000 in CalRecycle grant money to recycle used food containers commonly known as clamshells. The project claims to divert 1,300 tons of waste from landfills and reduce 1,950 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The recycled material will be sent to packaging-giant Sonoco, where it will be made into food-grade packaging.

Additionally, CalRecycle has a "Beverage Container Recycling City/County Payment Program" that offers $10,500,000 per fiscal year to the state's cities, counties and towns for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup. Between the County of Riverside and its cities, more than $500,000 was doled out locally (cities not on the following list either didn't apply or were denied funding, according to CalRecycle):

• County of Riverside: $94,866
• Banning: $7,975
• Calimesa: $5,000
• Cathedral City: $13,459
• Coachella: $11,897
• Corona: $41,463
• Desert Hot Springs: $7,617
• Eastvale: $16,593
• Hemet: $21,175
• Indio: $22,537
• Jurupa Valley: $26,525
• La Quinta: $10,303
• Lake Elsinore: $15,870
• Moreno Valley: $51,375
• Murrieta: $28,596
• Palm Desert: $13,314
• Palm Springs: $11,956
• Perris: $19,960
• Riverside: $80,515
• San Jacinto: $12,835
• Wildomar: $9,454

CalRecycle also approved $3 million in grant awards to repair local roads using some of the roughly 51 million waste tires generated in the state each year. In Riverside County, the only city to receive a piece of that funding was Murrieta at $123,200.

There is still more funding available for various programs, according to CalRecycle.

"As California rebuilds into a thriving, less-polluting economy, recycling manufacturers, cities, counties, haulers, and businesses can access millions of dollars in public and private funding for infrastructure to reduce trash and cut climate pollutants in their communities while providing local jobs and boosts to small businesses," the agency said.

CalRecycle officials said the state's investment into cutting waste can boost the economy while also reducing pollution.

“As the world’s fifth-largest economy, California can show the world how to rebuild into a self-sustaining, circular manufacturing system that reduces trash pollution and ensures products get recycled and remanufactured within our state,” CalRecycle director Rachel Machi Wagoner said. “The investments also boost small businesses, create income, and lower landfill pollutants that disproportionately impact the health of disadvantaged communities.”