The grants are being initiated by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in response to federal rules that will phase out incandescent builbs in favor of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), which contain small amounts of mercury. State officials want to keep the mercury out of landfills.

 

The Mercury Products Recycling Grant offers communities throughout the state the opportunity to fund public collection programs, increasing recovery and ensuring proper disposal of mercury-containing products, according to a DENR news release. 

 

“We strongly encourage counties and municipalities to provide citizens recycling options for mercury-containing products,” said division of environmental assistance and outreach director Edythe McKinney in the news release. “With financial and technical assistance available from the state, starting a program should be easy and will certainly help to reduce the environmental impacts of mercury pollution.”

 

Local officials interested in applying for funding should visit http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/deao/recycling/lg/financial-assistance. 

 

Questions can also be directed to Sandee Roof at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 919-707-8116.