The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) offers the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Grant Program to assist local governments in implementing safe HHW programs, which may include public education, source reduction, reuse, recycling, load checking and collection components.
Donor Name: California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/26/2025
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Funding Information
- $1,000,000 available for fiscal year (FY) 2025-26
- $50,000 for individual applicants per grant award
- $100,000 per grant award
- Rural area counties (must have population of 200,000 or less)
- Regional or JPA applicants.
Eligible Projects
This grant cycle has been designed for smaller projects that complement existing and/or regional HHW programs in California. Grant applications must include one or more of the following types of projects:
- HHW public education and outreach for general audiences (may include extended producer responsibility [EPR] information).
- Implementation of sustainable EPR collection opportunities, to include but not limited to:
- Promotion of an ongoing retail take-back program such as batteries or fluorescent lamps at local hardware stores, businesses, or government facilities.
- Promotional collection events hosted at businesses or government facilities.
- Promotional public education and outreach materials specifically for local retail take-back programs.
- Project(s) that:
- Determines and implements the most safe and cost-effective methods for collecting propane gas cylinders and/or marine flares.
- Implements effective education programs and identifies effective incentives that reduce the disposal of household hazardous waste. The incentives must be something reusable to replace HHW being disposed (does not include monetary or SWAG incentives, rechargeable batteries, adapters, valves, caps or other accessories for refilling propane canisters).
- Set-up and operation of temporary or mobile collection program for one-day or multi-day collection events for the following except for those materials that are currently covered by another recycling/collection program (e.g. covered electronic waste, cell phones, thermostat, etc.):
- Common HHW materials and universal waste
- Marine flares
- Propane gas cylinders up to 5 gallons
- Solar panels. Awardees are required to collect and report data on type/style of panels, manufacturer, volume, and the method of disposal.
- New or expanded curbside and/or door-to-door collection programs to allow for the collection of new and eligible HHW materials.
- Minor improvements to an existing HHW facility. (Examples include but are not limited to: storage bins, signage, painting, paving, shelving, etc.)
- Purchase of personal protection equipment.
- Eight-hour refresher Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standards (HAZWOPER) training.
Eligibility Criteria
California Labor Code section 1782 prohibits a charter city from receiving state funding or financial assistance for construction projects if that charter city does not comply with Labor Code sections 1770–1782. If any applicants or participating entities are charter cities or Joint Powers Authorities that include charter cities, the lead participating entity must certify on the Detail tab of the application that Labor Code section 1782 does not prohibit any included charter city from receiving state funds for the project described in this application. If it is determined after award that an applicant or participating entity is a charter city prohibited from receiving state funds for this grant project, the grant will be terminated, and any disbursed grant funds shall be returned to CalRecycle. Only one application per qualifying entity will be accepted. Eligible applicants may submit an individual or regional application. In the regional application, one entity must be identified as the lead applicant to act on behalf of itself and its participating jurisdictions. The grants are available to:
- Local governments (cities, counties, and city and counties) as defined in Public Resources Code section 30109 that have direct responsibility for HHW management.
- Regional or local sanitation agencies and waste agencies, having direct responsibility for HHW management.
- Joint Powers Authorities (JPA) if the JPA agreement includes solid and/or hazardous waste management responsibilities.
- Qualifying Tribal Entities with direct responsibility for HHW management. A “Qualifying Tribal Entity” is defined as an Indian tribe, band, nation or other organized group or community, residing within the borders of California, which:
- Is recognized for special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of the status of its members as Indians; or
- Can establish that it is a government entity and meets the criteria of the grant program.
For more information, visit CalRecycle.
