Organics Management Grants

Division of Solid Waste Management

Eligible Applicants:

Tennessee counties, cities, solid waste authorities, and organizations that have been determined to be tax-exempt nonprofit recycling organizations who are designated as 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service may apply for grants under T.C.A. § 68-211-825.

The 2024-25 Organics Management Grant emphasizes three priorities:

• Fostering public/private partnerships.
• Counties, municipalities, public institutions, or non-profit organizations providing new or expanded organics management services to their region.
• Pursuing reductions in wasted food and food waste through education, food recovery, and donation, feeding animals, industrial uses, anaerobic digestion, composting, or other means deemed likely to significantly reduce, recover, and/or divert food waste.

As stated, priority for the Organics Management Grant will be given to entities that demonstrate a public/private partnership. Priority will be given to counties, municipalities, public institutions, and non-profit organizations that provide new or expanded organics management services to residents.
 

Eligible Projects: 

Equipment and/or items eligible for funding should fall into three categories; (1) organics waste reduction equipment or items, which may include educational materials, or similar equipment; (2) organics waste recovery and donation equipment or items, which may include bins in food service retail establishments designed to collect unconsumed fruits and vegetables, equipment that may support existing food recovery or donation operations, or similar activities; (3) organics waste diversion equipment or items, which may include equipment necessary for general organics processing, for a composting operations, or similar activities. Any strategy that aids in the increased disposal of materials in Class I disposal facilities is not eligible under the terms of the grant.

Funding & Matching Requirements:

The Department has budgeted $300,000 total for Organics Management Grants. No grant may exceed $100,000. A match of 10%-50% is required as indicated in the Grant Match Requirement Table .

Grant awards will be made based on the estimates included in the grant application and will not be increased. Applicants must research the equipment and services they are seeking to purchase and implement and obtain accurate price information and delivery periods prior to submitting their application. Only items, services, and equipment identified in the application may be funded, so proper planning and research should be done by the applicant before submitting application. The State reserves the right to partially fund projects based on the application pool to attain objectives of this grant.  If specific services or equipment are fundamental to the project, these should be clearly indicated by the applicant in the application.

• View currently offered Materials Management program grants

If you are interested in applying for this grant offering, please register and apply via the TDEC Online Grants System.