King County last spring announced the Re+ Circular Economy grant recipients, awarding $2.3 million to 14 innovative projects aimed at reducing waste and increasing reuse and recycling. Each funded project contributes to Re+, King County’s initiative to reinvent the region’s solid waste system and cut greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning to a sustainable circular economy.
Executive Constantine recently visited one of the grant recipients, Chomp Energy, which turns food waste from its Vashon Island neighbor, Island Spring Organics, into carbon neutral biogas and organic fertilizer using an anaerobic digestion process.
Chomp used grant funding to retrofit a truck to run on the biogas they produce, allowing them to deliver their fertilizer to farms around Vashon Island and throughout King County without burning fossil fuels.
The grant also allowed Chomp to provide free fertilizer to farmers at Horseneck Farm, a King County-owned farm in the Green River valley that leases to immigrant and refugee farmers. The free fertilizer has helped the farmers at Horseneck increase their production using a locally produced, organic product.
Re+ Circular Economy grant funds can go toward planning and development, implementation, or expanding an existing project.
The grants support regional climate and sustainability goals by providing critical financial assistance to businesses and organizations with promising waste prevention and recycling projects, helping to foster creative ideas in our region that reduce climate impacts and keep valuable resources in the economy and out of the landfill.
Leave a Reply