May 7, 2014 By The 2 min read

Fayette County and Washington Township have jointly collected $255,000 through the state Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade their respective recycling programs.

Fayette County was awarded $171,366, and Washington Township received $84,321 through the state’s Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act grant program, according to state Reps. Peter J. Daley II, D-California, and Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson.

“The grants are used to develop and implement recycling programs,” said Daley. “The programs are vital to ensuring that effective levels of recycling are undertaken to promote prudent use of resources and to improve environmental stewardship.”

Bob Carson, coordinator of the county solid waste and recycling department, credited Goodwill Industries for its partnership with the county to operate, maintain and oversee the county recycling center and assistance in preparing the grant application.

“This is very good news for this program,” he said. “The funding will be very helpful in replacing some of our older equipment and improving the overall program.”

Several municipalities within the county have drop-off recycling programs that allow residents to bring aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, glass, magazines, newspapers, plastic and yard waste to a certain location. The material is then transported to the county recycling center.

Other communities offer curbside service to its residents.

Washington Township will use the grant to improve its leaf waste recycling program.

The municipal waste planning and recycling act allows for grant funds to be used for compost facilities, web-based recycling information, processing facilities, programs and educational materials for residents.

“I applaud the effort to make recycling a priority,” said Snyder. “I hope this grant money allows (the recipients) to keep their recycling efforts strong and growing in the future.”