Gladewater gets ETCOG grant to collect old tires

The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) announced $93,500 in grants from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) awarded to East Texas jurisdictions, special districts, and regional initiatives to support waste minimization efforts in ETCOG’s fourteen-county region.
The City of Gladewater will receive $2,500 to assist in a tire collection event.
Upshur County will receive $3,600 for a waste collection event.
Funding like this by ETCOG assists jurisdictions in establishing or expanding projects that would directly provide a measurable effect on reducing the amount of waste going into area landfills by diverting various materials from the municipal solid waste stream for beneficial use or reducing waste generation at the source.
Applicants were eligible to apply for the following Municipal Solid Waste Grant Project Categories: 1) Local Enforcement, 2) Litter and Illegal Dumping Clean Up and Community Collection Events, 3) Source Reduction and Recycling, 4) Local Solid Waste Management Plans, 5) Citizens’ Collection Stations and “Small” Registered Transfer Stations, 6) Household Hazardous Waste Management, 7) Technical Studies, 8) Educational and Training Projects.
ETCOG annually helps jurisdictions apply for funds, which are then ranked and scored by our Solid Waste Advisory Committee. This committee is made up of local subject matter experts from the region.
After the ETCOG Executive Committee approves the projects, we recommend them to TCEQ. The following grants in East Texas have been approved for funding by TCEQ.