Overview

Since 1993, the Arizona Recycling Coalition (AzRC) has awarded over $280,000 in funding to nonprofit organizations, local governments, tribal nations, schools, entrepreneurs, and local businesses to increase recycling and divert waste from landfill. AzRC is a nonprofit organization of professionals and citizens pledged to promote recycling efforts in Arizona's private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

Purpose

Recycling and the circular economy are essential to our community; they conserve natural resources, help the environment, and create a more sustainable Arizona. The AzRC grants program intends to develop new measurable initiatives to improve the recovery of recyclables and the circularity of Arizona’s economy. AzRC will award a winning applicant up to $5,000 in grant funding.

Eligibility

Applicants as defined:

• In the recycling industry and engaged in collecting, transporting, processing, marketing or education/outreach of recyclable materials.

• Is a nonprofit, government agency, school, entrepreneur, or tribal nation. Must provide proof of nonprofit status.

• AzRC member in good standing. If you or one of your team is not a member, part of the grant funding will be used for a one-year membership for the winning applicant.

• Applicant must demonstrate a commitment to sustaining the project beyond the grant term and explain how that commitment will be maintained.

Program eligibility as defined:

• Funding for a project that results in a measurable reduction of materials that would otherwise be landfilled.

Scoring rubric

We review applications based on the following rubric:

• Impact: The impact the project will have on recycling and circular-related efforts in Arizona.

• Plausibility: The likelihood that the goals outlined in the project proposal can be completed.

• Creativity: The project promotes new, innovative, and replicable ideas for recycling efforts and/or improves the recovery of recyclables and circularity in Arizona. Preference to ideas that haven’t received awards in the past.

• Financial viability: The ability to demonstrate financial need for the project as well as the ability to sustain and operate after AzRC funds have been expended.

How winners are selected

All grants are handled by AzRC’s Grants, Scholarships, and Awards Chair. All grant applications must be sent to Awards@ArizonaRecyclingCoalition.org by 11:59 pm on November 1, 2023. Once the application closes, the Grants, Scholarships, and Awards Chair will review all applications. Invalid or incomplete applications will be discarded.

All valid and complete applications are scored according to the scoring rubric by each board member. Any board member with a conflict of interest with an applicant abstains from scoring the application. A blind scoring process is used so board members don’t know how other board members score each applicant.

The chair collects all scored spreadsheets and synthesizes them into one spreadsheet. The chair leads a board discussion on who should receive funding. Once the board agrees, the grant winners are selected and contacted.

Application deadline and requirements

Grant applications must be submitted as ONE document (PDF) by November 1, 2023 to Awards@ArizonaRecyclingCoalition.org. All applicants will receive confirmation of their electronic submission within 72 business hours. All applicants will be informed of their application status before the AZRC annual meeting in winter 2024. Winning applicants will be announced to the AZRC membership during the annual meeting.

We require that winning applicants:

• Attend the AzRC annual meeting and provide a five-minute presentation about their project.

• Credit AzRC and put the AzRC logo on relevant project materials

• Participate in a video interview with AzRC.

• Provide AzRC with a project update by June 30, 2024.

If you have any questions regarding the grant applications, please contact us at Awards@ArizonaRecyclingCoalition.org.