Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia
On this page:
- Overview
- Eligible Applicants
- Eligible Activities
- Available Funding
- Anticipated Award Process and Timeline
- How to Apply
- Resources
- Webinars
- Updates
- Round One Grant Information
Overview
Consistent with the authorizing statute in Section 302(a) of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program will assist local waste management authorities by supporting improvements to local post-consumer materials management, including municipal recycling programs, and assisting local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems.
Projects funded through the funding opportunity will:
- Implement the building a circular economy for all strategy series.
- Improve local post-consumer materials management programs, including municipal recycling.
- Make improvements to local waste management systems.
Review the full SWIFR for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia Notice of Funding Opportunity (pdf) for more information.
Eligible Applicants
The entities eligible to apply for this grant are:
- Indian Tribes, as defined in 33 U.S.C. 4201 and section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304), which includes Alaskan Native Villages and Alaska Native Corporations, and former Indian reservations in Oklahoma, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, and
- Intertribal consortia, consistent with the requirements in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 35.504(a).
Eligible Activities
Materials and waste streams within scope of this funding opportunity include municipal solid waste, including plastics, organics, paper, metal, glass, etc., electronic waste, batteries, household hazardous waste, tire scraps, construction and demolition debris, and disaster debris. The materials listed above must be managed through source reduction, reuse, sending materials to material recovery facilities, composting, rendering, anaerobic digestion, and feeding animals to be eligible.
All applications must address one or more of the following objectives:
- Develop or update plans focused on encouraging environmentally sound post-consumer materials management such as source reduction (e.g., repair clinics, reuse centers), collection, storage, transportation, composting, recycling, and/or markets for recyclables;
- Develop, strengthen, and/or implement comprehensive data collection efforts that demonstrate progress towards the National Recycling Goal and Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal;
- Establish, increase, or expand materials management infrastructure, such as facilities for reuse, recycling, or composting; collection and storage bins for recyclable or organic material, purchasing and maintaining equipment or supplies such as scales, crushers, balers, and sorting equipment, trucks, forklifts, and safety equipment);
- Establish or identify end-markets for the use of recycled materials; or
- Demonstrate an increase in the diversion recycling rate, and/or quality of materials collected.
Applications may include (but are not limited to) projects that fund:
- Development or updates to plans focused on improving post-consumer materials management;
- Planning and construction of facilities for food and organics recovery, reuse, recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion (compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act will be required for construction projects);
- Programs that provide or increase access to prevention, reuse, and recycling in areas that currently do not have access; including construction of and/or upgrades to drop-off and transfer stations (including but not limited to a hub-and-spoke model in rural communities), etc.;
- Purchase of collection or storage bins for recyclables or organic material;
- Purchase or lease of recycling equipment or supplies for post-consumer materials management recovery efforts (e.g., crushers, balers, and sorting equipment, trucks, forklifts, safety equipment);
- Activities focused on development of end-markets for materials (e.g., working with a recycler to accept collected materials for processing);
- Activities to support increasing and improving collection of recyclable materials and/or organics and food waste, and backhaul.
- Activities to reduce, reuse and recycle building materials including deconstruction (dismantling buildings for reuse and recycling) and construction and demolition debris recycling equipment and projects;
- Activities focused on reducing contamination in the recycling stream;
- Activities related to the recycling of scrap tires or batteries;
- Training, technical assistance, and/or tools required to plan, establish, or implement post-consumer materials recovery (e.g., applicants may apply for funding for training employees on use and safety of recycling equipment, raise awareness of infrastructure and processes);
- Education and outreach activities relating to post-consumer materials management;
- Land acquisition when necessary for construction or improvements to Tribal recycling facilities and waste management facilities, subject to the requirements at 2 CFR Part 200.311 and 2 CFR Part 200.316.; and/or
- Other activities that the applicant believes will further the objectives of the NOFO, provided those activities are eligible for funding under statute and the terms of this NOFO.
Available Funding
The total estimated funding for the competitive opportunity is approximately $20,000,000. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 20 assistance agreements under this funding opportunity, with at least one award per each EPA Region, depending on the quantity and quality of the applications received. The minimum individual award floor is $100,000, and the maximum individual award ceiling is $1,500,000 for the grant period. Awards funded under this opportunity may have up to a three-year project period. Projects located in Alaska may have up to a five-year project period.
Anticipated Award Process and Timeline
How to Apply
Applicants must submit applications through grants.gov. Applications should read the SWIFR for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia Notice of Funding Opportunity (pdf) for the full solicitation. The NOFO includes a full description of the funding opportunity, award information, eligibility information, application and submission information, application review information, and award administration information.
Resources
- The Funding Opportunity in Grants.gov.
- 2023 SWIFR Tribes and Intertribal Consortia grant recipients.
- Optional Resources (please note that use of these resources is optional and applicants who do not use them will not be penalized):
- SWIFR Project Narrative Attachment Form (docx) (includes the Summary Information Cover Letter and the Narrative Proposal).
- SWIFR Budget Table and Description Spreadsheet (xlsx) .
- SWIFR Milestones (docx) .
- SWIFR Application Checklist (pdf) .
- Questions and Answers: SWIFR Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia.
- EPA's Tribal Waste Management Program Site.
- Prepare for a Grant.
- Model Recycling Program Toolkit.
Webinars
EPA is holding a webinar on October 7, 2025, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time with an opportunity for questions and answers. Registration is open.
EPA will post the recording and slides on this webpage after the event.
Updates
Stay Connected
- Sign up for updates about our programs that support a circular economy for all.
Need More Help?
- If you have questions about the grants, email SWIFRTribal@epa.gov.
Round One Grant Information
On November 15, 2023, EPA announced the selectees for round one of the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grants for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia.