Metro seeks proposals from businesses and non-profit organizations to improve efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle, compost or recover energy from the greater Portland area’s discarded waste.
Today marks the start of a six-week pre-proposal period for Metro’s new Investment and Innovation program, a three-year effort to provide grants annually to businesses and non-profit organizations working to reduce garbage and help advance Metro’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals by supporting economic opportunities for, and equitable services to, historically marginalized communities.
The Metro Council approved the creation of this program last December, partially in response to changes in recycling markets abroad as well as to address potential new opportunities for the reuse of other materials.
Apply now for 2019 grants
Applications close on July 13, 2018
More info on how to apply
“The disruption of recycling markets in China demonstrates how reliant we are on faraway markets for managing our recyclable and reusable materials,” said Paul Slyman, Metro’s director of Property and Environmental Services. “We should be promoting ways to make better use of those items closer to home.”
Metro proposes to award up to $3 million in this first round for two different types of grants:
- Grants between $10,000 and $50,000 each that could support personnel costs, operations and equipment.
- Capital grants between $50,000 and $500,000 each for larger investments such as machinery or other capital improvements.
Both types of grants will require some amount of matching contributions from applicants.
Grant application materials, program guidelines and additional information are available on the Metro website. The pre-proposal period closes at 4 p.m. on Friday, July 13. Pre-proposal materials will be reviewed by a grant review committee consisting of a Metro councilor, staff from Metro and local governments, representatives from the business community, and members ofunderserved or underrepresented communities.
Submission of pre-proposal materials is required for further consideration to receive grant funding. Successful applicants in the pre-proposal phase will be invited to submit a more detailed proposal later this summer.
Anyone interested in submitting a pre-proposal is encouraged to participate in either of two workshops to be hosted at Metro Regional Center on Tuesday, June 19. One workshop will be held between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., and the other will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The first set of grant awards from the Investment and Innovation program is expected to be announced this fall.