Kimball Recycle center awarded $76,000 grant from the state

The Kimball Recycle Center was approved for a $76,000 grant this past week, much to the excitement of Keep Kimball Beautiful Director Larissa Binod and Spud Rowley, Manager of the Kimball Recycle Center.

"I'm just over the moon about it," Binod said.

The grant, awarded by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, was sought out by Binod in order to help maintain the recycling center services and help fund new educational projects to take place later in the year.

"You submit grants, and they're reviewed. Based on your program, you receive funding. We received a little over $76,000. That stems from the Board of Public Works partnership and the two dollar landfill fee. On every landfill fee in the county of Kimball there is an assessment that comes to the recycle center or this part of waste management stream. Those are the funds that we get 'x' amount of dollars a month, and that is what is put into this grant," Binod said.

According to Binod, there is a lot of effort that goes into obtaining grants from the NDEQ and in order to stay in good standing with Keep Kimball Beautiful's national affiliate, Keep America Beautiful.

"I have to show how much we've collected over the years. I also have to do reports to keep my good standing with Keep America Beautiful. I have to do projects in three areas to stay in good standing with our national affiliate. I have to do a beautification project, a waste management project and a litter management project," Binod said.

Among the educational programs that Binod plans to use the grant money for is to start a verma composting project at the local high school with the help of Kimball Jr./Sr. High Food Service Director Danessa Terrill.

"She's been doing it for years. She wants to do verma composting, because they have to provide so many fruits and vegetables. Usually, they throw a lot of it away so maybe we can re-engage kids with vegetables through verma composting," Binod said.

This program will serve to compliment the other programs that Keep Kimball Beautiful already has set in motion at local schools such as the Eco club at Mary Lynch Elementary.

"We have a little Eco club so we try to do a few projects with them. Basically, we take things and show them what they can make it into. They collect all of the materials at Mary Lynch Elementary. They meet at the club after Tuesday's class, and they collect everything," Binod said.

Binod also plans to work with other officials throughout the county in order to educate residents on how to dispose of their waste.

"This year I'm hoping to work with the new landfill operator. We've talked a little bit on how we can educate some of the community members on how to manage their waste and get rid of it appropriately," Binod said.

On the recycling side of things, the grant will help maintain the functions already set in place such as the paper shredding service that is a huge asset to the center, according to Rowley.

"That's been our big asset for some of the businesses and people in town, because we used to do a shred-a-thon once a year. Now, we actually make appointments to shred paper any time. There was a huge demand from the community for that," Rowley said.

The center has also started taking metals from residents in order to pass them off to the proper facilities for them to be recycled.

"This is open 24/7. People can drop off metals at any time. We take all appliances, washers, dryers and metals any time. You just have to drop it off behind the recycle center. Any time we get a load, we load it up and haul it down to our local recycler in Kimball County, Sam Gingerich," Rowley said.

According to Rowley, the center recycled 430,000 pounds of material this past year, nearly double the amount of the previous year's total of 217,000 pounds.

"Our estimated number when we're breaking out our numbers was to try to get 500,000 pounds this year, which we came up a little short on. Next year, I'm thinking we want to get 600,000 pounds, but by the end of 2015 our total goal is, if we try to blow up it as big as we can, we'd like to hit one million. It's very possible. The numbers are there," Rowley said.

The recycle center takes plastics, cardboards, newsprint, tin cans, bottles, and many other materials. However, the center does not take in number five and seven plastics and paint cans, both of which, according to Rowley, still find their way to the recycle center doors.

It is the goal of the recycling center to use these new funds and donations of time and materials from community members to continue to give the people of Kimball various options for how to dispose of materials in an environmentally friendly manner.

"There's different ways of managing the waste stream. If you have options, you will choose whichever options suit your lifestyle. We are dedicated to suiting the lifestyle of those who want to recycle. It's simple. If there's something people want to recycle, we'll try. We'll do what we can," Binod said.