Media Alert: CSWD Receives Hazardous Waste Management Grant from VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Williston, VT – The Chittenden Solid Waste District has been awarded a grant worth $111,323 by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to help cover costs for providing facilities and education for the proper disposal of hazardous waste generated by residents and qualifying businesses.

The grant is part of a solid waste assistance fund provided by the state to help towns and solid waste planning entities implement their solid waste plans, as required by state law. The grant is awarded annually by the DEC, an arm of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

CSWD uses the grant to help fund the District’s hazardous waste collection program, which includes the Environmental Depot, a facility located in South Burlington that accepts hazardous waste year-round from households and Chittenden County businesses, and the Rover, a mobile collection program that complements the Depot.

“These funds will be used to help support our hazardous waste collection program for residents and qualifying businesses,” said Josh Estey, CSWD’s Director of Compliance. “This program costs more than $500,000 to manage more than 600,000 pounds of waste collected each year. The grant will help alleviate some of these costs.”

The funds will be used specifically to help cover costs for proper disposal of waste collected–expected to be nearly $275,000 in Fiscal Year 2025–as well as for making District members aware of the collection program. 

“The grant will cover only a fraction of the cost of this program, but it is a significant help to receive this funding so we can continue to provide convenient access for our members to dispose of their hazardous waste properly,” says Estey.

Some program expenses are offset by revenue sources including product stewardship programs, which reimburse CSWD for collecting certain products and materials, hazardous waste handling fees charged to businesses, and proceeds from the sale of Local Color paint, made by District staff from latex paint brought in for recycling.