Recycling Grant To Help Create Pilot for Waste Reduction Program with Public Economic Benefits
CHICAGO – In his continuing efforts to promote environmentally-friendly ways of growing the Southern Illinois economy, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced a $150,000 grant to Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) as part of his Recycling Expansion and Modernization (REM) program. The REM program is administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and comes as a part of Opportunity Returns, Gov. Blagojevich's pro-active, regional economic development strategy designed to create jobs and spur growth in Southern Illinois.
“Expanding our economy in a way that helps our environment can be accomplished by supporting innovative projects that create models for other businesses and organizations to follow. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is demonstrating how to conserve our natural resources, while boosting the performance of Illinois businesses and organizations and putting more people to work,” Gov. Blagojevich said.
The REM Program awards matching grants to Illinois organizations and businesses to accomplish recycling market expansion and waste reduction goals, while demonstrating public economic benefits. As part of the REM program, Waste Management Modernization projects provide funding assistance for a business or organization that plans to improve its approach to solid waste management through modernization activities. Projects involve best practices in solid waste management, including source reduction activities that prevent the generation of solid waste and waste reduction activities that recycle or reuse industrial byproducts or other solid waste materials.
The goal of the University’s REM project is to demonstrate a new method to improve the organization’s current waste management practices. The project activities involve separating food waste from other materials and composting the food waste through the method of vermicomposting, which involves composting activities with worms. The project intends to test and demonstrate that worm castings produced from the process can create a rich organic fertilizer for use on sustainable vegetable crops and turfgrass growth. This project will demonstrate that this unique waste management approach will decrease the amount of the organic solid waste from SUIC that is currently sent to municipal solid waste streams and landfills.
“We are grateful for Gov. Blagojevich’s support to make it possible to execute this innovative project. The project offers the benefit of being replicable, as SIUC plans to create a manual on how to implement the vermicomposting system. Other Illinois institutions will be able to view this unique waste management technique and implement the approach when needed,” said Andilee M. Warner, SIUC's recycling and solid waste coordinator.
“Gov. Blagojevich and I are both committed to growing our economy in a way that not only creates good jobs but helps protect our environment as well. Throughout Southern Illinois, we are giving organizations, business and industry the resources they need to be more competitive and more productive. Investing in recycling and waste management is both an environmentally and economically sound decision,” DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.
Gov. Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns regional economic development strategy is the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to creating jobs in Illinois’ history. Since a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development just doesn’t work, the Governor has divided the state into 10 regions – each with a regional team that is empowered and expected to rapidly respond to opportunities and challenges. Opportunity Returns is about tangible, specific actions to make each region more accessible, more marketable, more entrepreneurial and more attractive to businesses. It is about upgrading the skills of the local workforce, increasing the access to capital, opening new markets, improving infrastructure, and creating and retaining jobs. Opportunity Returns is about successfully partnering with companies and communities, both large and small, to help all of Illinois reach its economic potential.