(Jackson, Miss.) –The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has awarded Pearl River County a $40,000 two-year waste tire grant to continue the local waste tire collection program for small quantity generators of waste tires and a solid waste planning grant of $60,000.

Funding for waste tire grants is provided by a waste tire account funded from a fee charged on the wholesale sale of every new motor vehicle tire sold in Mississippi. This fee provides the funds to ensure and encourage the proper management and disposal of waste tires.

Cities and counties may apply for Solid Waste Planning Grants through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. These grants are used by local communities for programs to prevent and clean up unauthorized dumps; to aid in hiring local solid waste enforcement officers; for public education efforts on solid waste disposal and recycling; and to establish programs for the collection of white goods, bulky wastes and recyclables.

Information about this grant program and other solid waste initiatives and programs is available at www.mdeq.ms.gov/land/waste-division/solid-waste-management-programs.