EPA Selects UG for Project Funding

Published on September 30, 2021

Today, at a press event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $469,924 in funding for three Sustainable Materials Management projects in the Kansas City area.

Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) is a systematic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection.

• The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas has been selected for $95,000 in funding to conduct a feasibility study for an organic material composting facility, including a site evaluation, feedstock & processing technologies evaluation, concept design, and financial evaluation.
• The Mid-America Regional Council has been selected for $174,924 in funding for a project to address food waste reduction in the nine‐county Kansas City region through a Regional Food Waste Reduction Action Plan, food system mapping, and an educational campaign.
• The Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute has been selected for $200,000 in funding for a project in Johnson County, Kansas, that will work with industry and community partners to provide on-site technical assistance, identifying and documenting opportunities for food and solid-waste (packaging) source reduction, diversion and recycling.
  
  

“The UG remains committed to improving air quality and ensuring clean, safe water for Wyandotte County and the surrounding region,” said Mayor/CEO David Alvey, Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. “An organic composting facility could help reduce unnecessary waste going into area landfills, decreasing emissions harmful to the environment, and turning waste into composted materials that can be used for land applications such as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. We appreciate the EPA’s grant assistance to study the feasibility of this project, and value this partnership to improve the quality of life for our community and the region through sustainable materials management.”

By examining how materials are used throughout their life cycle, an SMM approach seeks to:

• Use materials in the most productive way with an emphasis on using less.
• Reduce toxic chemicals and environmental impacts throughout the material life cycle.
• Assure we have sufficient resources to meet today’s needs and those of the future.
  
  

“By working to reduce the waste going to landfills and stopping pollution at the source,” said Acting EPA Region 7 Administrator Edward H. Chu, “these sustainable materials management projects will help the Kansas City area become an even stronger and more environmentally friendly community.”

To learn more about SMM, visit the EPA's Sustainable Materials Management webpage.