Rapid City’s solid waste division will be getting a $5 million shot in the arm allowing it to offer new recycling services and greatly expand the region’s recycling program.
Last week, the Rapid City Common Council gave Public Works the approval to accept an Environmental Protection Agency grant – clearing the way for the expansion of the city’s recycling services.
After an unsuccessful attempt for the grant in 2023, the city re-applied for the $4,977,265 Solid Waste Infrastructure For Recycling (SWIFR) Discretionary Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 2024.
“Rapid City is one of only 17 recipients and almost all of the others are very large metropolitan areas,” said Public Works Director Mike Theis. “So, it’s a big deal for Rapid City to receive a $5 million grant for the recycling program.”
The grant will provide a financial shot in the arm for Rapid City’s recycling program creating the pathway for solid waste to focus on four major components: Increasing collection rates with the creation of a commercial recycling program; adding materials recovery facility equipment to increase capacity; reducing contamination at remote sites; and, increasing public awareness and education.
“It’s a big boost for us, it’s a shot in the arm for us in recycling,” Theis said. “Something that we were challenged with was trying to figure out how the best way to do recycling was, this helps us expand that program.”
Rapid City was one of a select handful to receive the grant. Theis said the city’s solid waste plans to grow the commercial recycling program and increase cardboard recycling likely put the city ahead in consideration.
The commercial expansion of the recycling program will include all recyclable materials and remove hurdles for hospitals, schools, businesses, and other commercial interests to get involved.
Theis said the commercial funding in the grant will fund new collection vehicles and containers with the goal of serving at least 450 new accounts by the end of 2029.
The addition of different types of cardboard into the recycling program was another major change that Rapid City proposed in the grant application.
Theis said the grant funding will allow the city to expand its cardboard recycling to include more types of cardboard than the currently accepted corrugated cardboard through the installation of a cardboard screen at the recycling center at the Rapid City Landfill.
“A big component for us, for both the deliverable and a result of the grant is a tremendously larger amount of cardboard recycling,” Theis said. “So it’s in the magnitude of about seven times of what we do today.”
2029 Goals
The 2029 goals with the grant funding include establishing the commercial recycling program, increasing capacity with new MRF infrastructure, optimizing recycling at drop-off sites, and increasing recycling through awareness efforts. Specifically:
- Doubling the recycling program rates from 10 percent to 21 percent
- Reducing contamination by 30 percent
- Diverting and additional 18,576 tons from the landfill
- Doubling the amount of cardboard that is diverted from the landfill
- Reaching thousands of individuals through public awareness
The EPA funding has been approved but the city hasn’t received the funding yet. Theis said when Public Works receives the EPA grant funding, the first step will be ordering three trucks and containers to expand the commercial program. Improving customer education on recycling will be the next step.
“There are no negatives we see of this grant,” Theis said. “This is a huge benefit to Rapid City to receive a grant of this size.”
The Rapid City Landfill has been in operation since 1960 and serves Rapid City and the surrounding region with the existing landfill site of 451 acres and 18 cells. The facility is a regional facility serving as a recycling center for a 350-mile radius.
