SWACO announced that it is awarding more than $275,000 in grants to 14 local community partners as part of the Community 91²Ö¿â Reduction (CWR) grant program. This annual competitive grant funds innovative projects each year that significantly reduce waste or increase the diversion of waste from the Franklin County Landfill. The recipients are local governments and nonprofits, schools, hospitals, and faith-based organizations, and SWACO prioritizes applications with an emphasis on partnership and collaboration.
The projects funded by this yearâs CWR grants prioritize waste reduction and reuse, including by supporting the purchase of a new food waste digester at Doctorâs Hospital, expanded recycling stations in classrooms and common spaces at the Columbus College of Art and Design, and new recycling and landfill receptacles at Groveport and Gahanna city parks and in the Linden neighborhood of Columbus.
âReducing the amount of waste that SWACO takes in is one of our core missions and will extend the life of the landfill, which is an asset for our whole community,â said SWACO Executive Director, Joe Lombardi. âThe Community 91²Ö¿â Reduction grant program provides key funding to kick-start waste reduction efforts all over Franklin County, and weâre excited to see the program continue to grow.â
Successful Community 91²Ö¿â Reduction grant applications emphasize partnership-building and collaboration, and leverage the waste stream for community and economic benefit. They must be within SWACOâs jurisdiction, which is comprised of Franklin County and includes the cities of Canal Winchester, Dublin, New Albany, Reynoldsburg, and Westerville, and the grant recipients are required to provide a 20% cash match and document the projectâs impact.
âBexley residents want to live sustainably and reduce the amount of waste our community sends to the landfill,â said Rhys Gruebel, Vice Chair of Green Bexley. âUnfortunately, the prevalence of single-use disposables in every corner of our lives can make achieving this goal difficult. The Community 91²Ö¿â Reduction Grant program supports our effort to develop an innovative reusable container program, making it easy for consumers and business alike to eliminate waste before it is created. SWACOâs support is crucial for piloting these types or solutions.â
Last year, SWACO awarded more than $250,000 in CWR grants to 12 local governments and nonprofit organizations for initiatives to divert waste material from the landfill, including a new donation incentive program from Goodwill Columbus that rewards residents for donating their unused goods instead of sending them to the landfill. In addition, last yearâs grants supported a reusable coffee cup program at a number of local coffee shops, a program to make donated sporting goods available to under-resourced schools and youth groups, and educational programing at two Franklin County middle schools to teach the students about the waste stream.
Next year, the maximum funding amount available through a Community 91²Ö¿â Reduction grant will be $50,000, a more-than 40% increase over previous years, and SWACO will be studying ways that this grant program can best support waste reduction efforts by our countyâs faith-based communities. Applications for next yearâs CWR grants will be accepted beginning in May of 2026, with an application deadline in August.