Recycling Grants for your North Oaks Business

Business owners in North Oaks can get a recycling grant to help with the start of or the reinvigoration of a recycling program within their business. This grant is given to any business in Ramsey or Washington County looking to start recycling.

Starter Grants

The starter grans help to fund the start of recycling, which can include food waste/organics recovery within your business. Once approved, the business can use the funds to help purchase equipment, supplies and for training and educating the staff about the program.

Bin Grants

For businesses with a recycling program in place, grants are still available to help with improvement to the program. You can use the funds to add more containers, get the right containers and maximize your businesses' recycling efforts. The bin grants allow you to purchase the container you need, which can be the most expensive part.

The Reward Program

Along with the grants, Ramsey County offers a reward program for those starting a food waste/organics recovered program. The reward program will cover the cost of the first three months of collection services for any business starting a new program. If you already have a program in place and you improve it, the reward program may cover the first two months of collection services.

Improvements can include a number of things, such as going from a food-to-hogs program to a source separated organics or adding new materials to your program.

How to Use the Grant

You may be wondering how you can use the funds for your business. Here are a few ways other businesses have used the starter and bin grants.

• A Johnson and Sons Florist in St. Paul - Used the grant to get color coordinated bins.
• Blue Heron Grill in Hugo - Used the funds to construct an exterior waste station.
• Lake Elmo Bank in Lake Elmo - Used the funds to add recycling bins to all workstations.
• St. Croix Prep Academy in Stillwater - Added color coded bins to the program and purchased supplies for the organics program with the funds.

You can use the funds however necessary, as long as it fits within the recycling or food waste/organics programs. Find out more information and apply for the grants at, http://lesstrash.com/free-resources/grants.