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Re+ (zero waste) grants
King County offers funding opportunities for non-profits, businesses, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and local governments to support innovative projects that further King County’s commitment to zero waste of resources by 2030.
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Ravel
Ravel's innovative technology will transform end-of-life clothing into like-new textiles
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Chomp
Chomp has provided biofertilizer from their food waste processing plant to over 25 farms in King County, including the Matsuda Farm on Vashon Island
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Earthwise
In June 2023, Earthwise Architectural Salvage opened a new retail warehouse in Kenmore, expanding the market for salvaged construction materials in the County
Current funding opportunities
The application period for the 2024-2025 cycle of Re+ Circular Economy Grants has closed. We are currently evaluating applications and will share updates on winning projects later this year.
City Plug and Play Project resources
King County has developed a list of waste reduction and recycling project plans that cities can use when applying for Waste Reduction and Recycling Grants (WRR) and Re+ City Grants. The seven plans are designed to be the most impactful and easily implemented projects, adoptable by both large and small cities. Plans are available to all King County cities.
Plug and Play project plansPast awards
Since 2022, the King County Solid Waste Division has invested nearly $3 million in projects that reduce waste and keep valuable resources in the economy and out of the landfill. This is part of King County’s Re+ initiative to reinvent the region’s waste management system, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and create a more equitable, sustainable local economy.
Re+ Circular Economy Grant award recipients (2022-23)
The Re+ Circular Economy Grants are an important part of King County’s commitment to increase the prevention, reuse, and recycling of material so that we meet our zero waste of resources goal and reduce the impact of our consumption on the environment. In the first round of funding, 14 projects were awarded a total of $2.3 million. The request for applications for a second round of funding is anticipated to launch in 2024.
| Organization | Project description | Material | Project Type | Funding amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chomp | Increase production at Chomp’s Vashon Island food waste processing plant and partner with local farmers to distribute the biofertilizer byproduct |  |
Recycling & Composting | $252,750 |
| Wasat | Partner with BIPOC caterers and chefs to transform surplus food into culturally-appropriate meals for neighbors in need | |
Prevention & Reuse | $264,000 |
| Food Cycle Science Corporation | Provide King County residents with in-home technology that processes food waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment | |
Recycling & Composting | $94,380 |
| Zero Waste Washington | Provide mini-grants to support food businesses in using durables, instead of single-use items, for onsite dining |  |
Prevention & Reuse | $74,558 |
| Out Of The Box Eco-store LLC | Reduce single-use packaging waste by providing a refill system for household and personal care products | |
Prevention & Reuse | $90,800 |
| Washington State University | Pilot the use of plastics in hot mix asphalt for highway construction, giving a second use to otherwise hard-to-recycle plastics | |
Recycling & Composting | $123,309 |
| Refugee Artisan Initiative | In partnership with Starbucks, repurpose coffee bags into reusable products, such as sleeping bag coats for people experiencing homelessness | |
Prevention & Reuse | $251,945 |
| Zero Waste Washington | Expand efforts to repair and refurbish landfill-bound furniture and provide it to refugee and low-income families |   |
Prevention & Reuse | $98,730 |
| South King Tool Library | Expand access to free tools and training resources by opening a second tool library location | |
Prevention & Reuse | $197,500 |
| Re-Use Consulting | Work with homeowners and small contractors to raise awareness of and demonstrate sustainable alternatives to landfilling demolition waste | |
Prevention & Reuse | $99,000 |
| Earthwise Architectural Salvage | Expand the market for salvaged materials by opening a new location in Kenmore | |
Prevention & Reuse | $135,000 |
| Earthwise Architectural Salvage | Increase capacity to remove and sell salvaged lumber from demolition and construction sites | |
Prevention & Reuse | $192,418 |
| Diaper Stork | Pilot a program to compost diapers and support planning for a large-scale permitted commercial composting facility | |
Recycling & Composting | $192,418 |
| Ravel | Pilot new technology to turn ripped, torn, or damaged clothing into like-new textiles |  |
Recycling & Composting | $232,900 |
Re+ City Grant award recipients (2023-24)
The Re+ City Grants Program supports cities delivering waste prevention, reuse, or recycling projects that help create a more circular economy. Cities in the King County service area that signed the Re+ Pledge were eligible to apply. Twelve cities, working on five projects, were awarded approximately $390,000 in the first grant cycle.
| City | Project description | Material | Project type | Funding amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Algona | Bolster recycling education and provide recycling vouchers to encourage residents to recycle materials. |  |
Recycling & Composting | $25,000 |
| Cities of Bothell, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Redmond | Expand the Eastside Bring Your Own Cup (BYOC) Campaign to increase the use of reusable cups at coffee shops. |   |
Prevention & Reuse | $84,000 |
| Cities of Renton and Kent | Provide technical assistance to increase recycling and organics service levels at businesses. |  |
Recycling & Composting | $100,000 |
| Cities of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park | Partner with Seattle REconomy to pilot the Shoreline Tool Library, a single location that houses a tool library, reclaimed materials store, and educational space. |  |
Prevention & Reuse | $99,970 |
| Cities of Tukwila, Burien, Maple Valley | Support food service businesses in setting up organics collection services to comply with the new statewide Organics Management Law. | |
Recycling & Composting | $83,000 |
NextCycle Washington Renew Seed Grant award recipients (2022-23)
NextCycle Washington is a statewide circular accelerator program for businesses and communities. Two types of support have been provided for projects that expand waste prevention, repair, reuse, recycling, and composting:
- Circular Accelerator – a six-month program designed to support and advance promising circular businesses and projects with workshops, business and technical assistance, pitch development, and matchmaking.
- Renew Seed Grants - mini-grants up to $10,000 for early-stage projects for businesses (start-ups, small and large), community-based organizations, tribal governments and research institutions as well as access to mentors, consultants, and networking to support project execution and growth planning.
Only projects in King County are listed below. For a full list of projects, please see the NextCycle Washington website.
| Organization | Project description | Material | Project Type | Funding amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association | Implement the installation of a biodigester through a circular economy focus that uses part of the food waste generated by the South Park community to produce energy and liquid fertilizer for the benefit of such community (residents, businesses, local farms, etc.). |  |
Recycling & Composting | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Restaurant 2 Garden | Transform local restaurant food waste in the Chinatown International District into nutritious fertilizer to grow culturally appropriate food by establishing a decentralized and hyper-local community composting facility. | |
Recycling & Composting | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Refugee Artisan Initiative | Repurpose retired wildfire fire hoses into marketable products by partnering with refugee and immigrant women to foster an inclusive, prosperous transition to the US through artisan skills training and micro business development. |  |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| South King Tool Library | Develop a Tool Library Incubator Program (TooLIP) that is a replicable model that would allow them to share and expand their best practices in communities throughout the region. |  |
Waste prevention (repair, reuse & sharing) | No direct funding – only technical assistance |
| Community Gearbox | Develop a social, inventory management app that lets users and organizations share, co-own, and mobilize resources amongst people they know and trust. | |
Waste prevention (sharing) | No direct funding – only technical assistance |
| GeerGarage | Develop a peer-to-peer outdoor gear rental platform that quickly matches renters with lenders who have the right gear, available in the right place, at the right time. | |
Waste prevention (rental) | No direct funding – only technical assistance |
| Just Right Bite | Develop a healthy and sustainable alternative to mainstream pet food, using insects and regenerative agricultural ingredients. | |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Ravel | Create the technology and infrastructure for circular textiles that enables the recovery and reuse of blended end of life textiles to create sustainable and just local materials economies for the apparel industry. | |
Recycling & Composting | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Birch Biosciences | Engineer a bio-enzymatic process to break down and recycle PET plastic to produce clean, virgin-quality recycled. |  |
Recycling & Composting | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Glacier | Build AI-enabled robots that automate sorting, making recycling lower costs and more effective for recycling facilities. | |
Recycling & Composting | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Redesign Collective | Divert luxury textiles from landfill and upcycle them into valuable products. | |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Book Hill Group | Develop consumer durables made with recycled content for organizing and protecting laundry, textiles, and wardrobes. | |
Waste prevention (reuse) | No direct funding - only technical assistance |
| Sustainable NE Seattle | Research and plan for a Reuse Commons in North King County that houses a suite of reuse- and repair-focused services. | |
Waste prevention (repair, reuse & sharing) | $10,000 |
| Bennion Construction | Deconstruct, salvage, and recycle materials (including fixtures and framed structure) from old homes in Seattle and King County. |  |
Waste prevention (reuse) | $10,000 |
| Minty Made LLC | Expand Green Marketing Academy to train and educate businesses, organizations, and agencies on utilizing sustainable, ethical, inclusive and accessible marketing practices. | |
Waste prevention & Recycling | $10,000 |
| N8madic, Inc. | Build a prototype of portable smart storage-furniture product made of recycled plastics. | |
Recycling & Composting | $10,000 |
| Refugee Artisan Initiative | Support the transport, cleaning, storage, and delivery of retired fire houses to skilled refugee and immigrant women artisans for upcycling. | |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | $10,000 |
| Sage Conservation | Expand service to low-income multi-family housing to maintain, repair and upgrade plumbing (versus replacement) conserving water and diverting materials from landfill. | |
Waste prevention (repair) | $10,000 |
| Sledge Seattle LLC | Research, prototype, and showcase re-milling of reclaimed old growth lumber salvaged from houses in Seattle and King County. | |
Waste prevention (reuse) | $10,000 |
| South King Tool Library | Develop course modules, surveys, assessments, and processes to build a Tool Library Incubator Program for community-based organizations to use as a guide in developing their own lending programs. | |
Waste prevention (repair, reuse & sharing) | $10,000 |
| The Chayah Movement | Create a pilot internship program focused on improving environmental and ethical impacts of the fashion industry. | |
Waste prevention (reuse) | $10,000 |
| Vashon Care Network | Enhance the Vashon Care Closet that loans durable medical equipment to Vashon-Maury Island residents, by developing an online ordering system, recruiting a native Spanish speaker liaison, and improving other support activities. | |
Waste prevention (reuse & sharing) | $9,467 |
| Zero Waste Washington | Conduct market and feasibility analysis for furniture repair project utilizing rescued, damaged furniture items from the public and partner organizations. | |
Waste prevention (repair & reuse) | $10,000 |
| WasteXperts |
Produce components that will be part of a new mobile unit (WX MRFi) that enables efficient onsite sorting of recyclable / compostable material. |
|
Recycling & Composting | $10,000 |
| Rebundance | Develop the business of upcycling used bedding and textiles into durable home goods and craft supplies. | |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | $10,000 |
| Seattle T4T Clothing Swap | Host clothing swap events to provide trans, nonbinary, and gender diverse people in the Greater Seattle area with access to free, gender-affirming clothes while reducing textile waste in the community. | |
Waste prevention (reuse) | $9,660 |
| Diaper Stork LLC | Test cloth diaper service to include use of sphagnum moss in compostable diaper inserts. | |
Recycling & Composting | $10,000 |
| Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association | Develop engineering schematics for installation and operation of a biodigester in partnership with a local food rescue warehouse. | |
Recycling & Composting | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| Encora, LLC | Establish reusable foodservice takeout container pilot at a university campus. | |
Waste prevention (reuse) | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| GeerGarage | Develop new website and software functionality to scale peer-to-peer outdoor gear rental service. | |
Waste prevention (rental) | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| Restaurant 2 Garden | Expand program that composts local restaurant food waste into fertilizer and redistributes to the community. | |
Recycling & Composting | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| RPM eco | Collect empty plastic lubricant containers (primarily vehicle products) in the Seattle area and recycle them into high-quality resins using closed loop wastewater system. | |
Recycling & Composting | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| Simonpietri Enterprises LLC | Conduct scoping study on developing production plant in the Seattle-Tacoma area for converting construction and demolition debris into sustainable aviation fuel. | |
Waste-to-fuel | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |
| Just Right Bite | Develop the business of sustainable pet food made from insects – the insects are fed food waste. | |
Waste prevention (upcycling) | Funded by Dept. of Commerce |