StopWaste is offering a total of $1.1 million in grant funding to businesses, nonprofits and institutions in Alameda County for projects focused on food waste prevention, surplus food recovery, reusable foodware, community food systems, reuse, repair, and reusable transport packaging. Deadline to apply is March 3, 2023.  

Going beyond waste prevention, grant funding is designed to support efforts that boost resilient community food systems and reduce our negative impact on the environment. 

“The goal is not only to keep valuable resources out of the landfill, but to model new ways of handling materials that benefit the community and address important issues much beyond waste,” said Timothy Burroughs, StopWaste’s Executive Director. “We have seen grant funded projects connect groups and individuals in meaningful ways, bring about economic opportunities where they’re needed most, and improve access to nutritious food,” he added. 

Details about the grant categories can be found below and at www.stopwaste.org/grants. The website also offers details about grant eligibility and requirements, a list of past grant-funded projects and StopWaste Grant Staff office hours and contacts. Interested organizations are encouraged to attend StopWaste’s grant information webinar on January 31, 4-5:30PM. Register here. 

The six grant categories are: 

Food Waste Prevention & Recovery (up to $20,000 per grant) 
These grants prevent edible food from going to compost or landfill by recovering and redistributing it to feed people, or by preventing the production of surplus edible food through product or process redesign. A current grantee, the Berkeley Student Food Collective uses their grant funding to increase production of Pay-What-You-Want meals made with recovered surplus inventory, train volunteers and expand the operational capacity of their community kitchen. 

Surplus Food Donation Equipment (up to $10,000 per grant) 
These grants provide funding for storage, transportation and other equipment to support the recovery or donation of surplus edible food that would otherwise go to waste. A past grantee, the non-profit San Leandro Community Pantry used their grant funding to purchase a new fridge and freezer, enabling them to accept up to 25,000 pounds of additional surplus perishable food donations each year. Note this grant category is available only to nonprofits. 

Community Food Systems (up to $10,000 per grant) 
These grants support locally focused projects that prevent food waste while improving food access, equity, economic opportunity, and community health. A current grantee is Goodness Village in Livermore, a tiny home community for people transitioning out of chronic homelessness. The nonprofit purchased equipment to store and process recovered, surplus food to feed the Village, and runs a program to teach residents to make jams, preserves, and other upcycled food products to be sold to the larger local community, with proceeds coming back to support Goodness Village. 

Reusable Foodware ($5,000 to $50,000 per grant) 
These grants fund innovative projects that replace single-use, disposable foodware with reusable systems with the goal of developing local infrastructure for reusable foodware systems. Past grantee Sparkl Reusables partnered with Spectrum Community Services to replace disposable foodware with durable, reusable containers and tote bags to serve hundreds of hot meals daily to seniors at pick-up sites throughout Alameda County. Their grant award helped buy inventory, set up operations, and train staff for the collection, cleaning, and redistribution of the reusable foodware. 

Reuse & Repair (up to $20,000 per grant) 
These grants fund innovative projects that prevent waste through reuse, repair, deconstruction, redistribution, product or process redesign, and other methods of recovery, conserving natural resources while stimulating economic activity in the reuse and recovery sectors. Past grantee Civicorps partnered with non-profit TechExchange to train young adults to repair and refurbish donated electronics while building valuable career skills. 

Reusable Transport Packaging (up to $10,000 per grant) 
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. Past grantee Full Belly Farm spent grant funding on stackable plastic totes to eliminate the recurring purchase of waxed cardboard boxes for transporting produce. They keep 8,000 waxed cardboard boxes out of landfill each year, saving the farm over $14,000 annually. 

For more information about our Waste Prevention grant program, contact Meri Soll at msoll@stopwaste.org.