The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) more than $900,000 to update and overhaul its recycling program.
According to the EPA, the CTUIR’s Tribal Environmental Recovery Facility (TERF) will receive a $915,895 grant early next year to focus on practical and culturally sensitive recycling options, replace and upgrade recycling equipment and expand markets for recycled commodities through tribal user education and recycled materials management.
“We are very excited to be receiving the EPA Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grant, and the opportunities that it will provide for our program and community,” TERF Manager Ashley Picard said. “We will be working with a consultant to update our Conservation and Recycling Plan so that it will align with the needs of our community.”
Picard said inadequate equipment and staffing shortages have forced TERF to not provide curbside recycling services and limited its commercial and onsite options. She said the grant would allow TERF to fill those needs.
“We are excited to be able to purchase two new trucks, one of which will be an automated truck to provide curbside collection, a new backhoe and an electric forklift that will be used to prepare recyclables for transport, recycling receptacles, a waste oil heater that will be used to heat our recycling center and transfer station during the cold months, and a glass crusher that will produce sand that can be utilized for landscaping purposes,” Picard said.
She added that as TERF’s recycling program expands, CTUIR members will need to properly prepare materials for recycling. The grant will allow this through proper education via flyers and informational documents.
The grant stems from more than $34 million in Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling funding and more than $3.5 million in Recycling Education and Outreach grants in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Grants are funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will expand recycling infrastructure and education for waste management systems in states, tribes and communities as part of the EPA’s National Recycling Strategy.
