Waste Prevention Grant Opportunities
The 2024 Waste Prevention Grant Application is now closed.
StopWaste is offering $1.1 million in grant opportunities to nonprofits, businesses, and institutions with projects aimed at increasing individual, business, and community involvement in the prevention of waste in Alameda County. Funding priorities are related to projects that focus on waste prevention, reuse, and recovery of food, goods and materials as well as development, marketing, and products made with recovered materials. Proposed projects must be located in and/or service the residents and/or businesses of Alameda County.
Grant Application Timeline
Applications Due: March 14, 2024
Grant Awards Announced: May 24, 2024
Please review the description for each of the six grant categories listed below to better understand all the funding opportunities before beginning the application process.
For any inquiries and grant application support in Spanish or Chinese, contact swgrants@stopwaste.org.
Para obtener ayuda en español sobre los subsidios, envíe un correo electrónico a swgrants@stopwaste.org.
有關中文補助的訊息,請發送電子郵件至 swgrants@stopwaste.org.
Food Waste Prevention & Recovery Grants
Reuse and Repair Grants
Available to nonprofits and businesses, these grants fund innovative projects that prevent waste through reuse, repair, deconstruction, redistribution, product or process redesign, recovery, and other ways that keep goods and other materials out of disposal or recycling. The goal is to conserve natural resources and stimulate economic activity in the reuse and recovery sectors. Up to $25,000 per grant.
Surplus Food Donation Equipment Grants
Available to nonprofits, these grants provide funding to strengthen the capacity of non-profit organizations to increase the safe recovery and/or distribution of edible surplus food generated by businesses in Alameda County to nourish communities with food donations that would otherwise go to waste. Up to $10,000 per grant.
Reusable Transport Packaging Equipment Grants
Available to nonprofits, businesses, institutions, and school districts, these grants fund reusable, durable alternatives to replace limited-life packaging used in manufacturing, transportation and/or distribution, such as boxes, pallets, pallet wraps, and dunnage. Funds help cover the upfront reusable equipment costs. Once reusables are in place, organizations often see long-term cost savings by eliminating (or significantly reducing) recurring costs for packaging materials. Up to $10,000 per grant.
Community Food Systems Grants
Available to nonprofits and businesses, these grants fund community-rooted and driven projects that address gaps and shortfalls of the food system with innovative longer-term strategies to improve food access, address equity, economic opportunities, and community health. The goal is to support efforts that prevent the wasting of healthy, culturally appropriate, and locally grown food, and ensure it is being equitably distributed to communities in need. Up to $10,000 per grant.
Reusable Foodware Infrastructure Grants
Available to businesses, nonprofits, institutions, and school districts these grants fund innovative projects that explore the feasibility of replacing single-use, disposable foodware with reusable systems. The goal is to eliminate single-use foodware and instead develop local infrastructure to make reusable foodware accessible to businesses and consumers. Up to $25,000 per grant.
Grantee Highlight
Alameda County’s second schools reusable foodware pilot project launched in Alameda following a successful inaugural launch in Emeryville—replacing single-use lunch trays and plastic utensils with reusable stainless-steel ones.