$108K Grant to the Southern Recycling Center

In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity disbursed $108,000 of a $120,000 grant to the Southern Recycling Center.

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

Using our transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org, I found that in fiscal year 2009, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity(DCEO) disbursed $108,000 of a $120,000 recycling grant to Olympic Industries Inc. Olympic Industries Inc. does business as Southern Recycling Center and their facility in Carbondale “has been serving Southern Illinois since 1988, specializing in both commercial and public recycling.” The Southern Recycling Center is a “300,000 square foot facility” that “contains a public drop-off area, 3 baling systems, a sorting line, truck scale and 10 loading docks” and accepts metal, plastic, paper, cardboard, electronics, and more.

According to the DCEO’s Grant Tracker website, this grant (number 09-442010) is part of the Illinois Recycling Grants Program, which helps “local governments, not-for-profit organizations, and private entities initiate or expand recycling collection and/or processing efforts in Illinois.” The Southern Recycling Center wanted to use this grant to “expand processing capacity from new accounts” and “purchase a baler to process additional amounts of mixed paper.”

To find this entry on the IllinoisOpenGov site, go to “Checks to Businesses & People” and enter “Olympic Industries” in the “Vendor” field.