Top: Wilmington Compost Company purchased a food waste collection vehicle with a NCDEQ grant. Photo courtesy NCDEQ

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (NCDEQ) Food Waste Reduction Grant program is accepting applications from local governments, nonprofits, and businesses to facilitate food recovery and and recycling. The grants support initiatives to build food waste reduction infrastructure, such as expanding organics recycling operations and food recovery networks. Eligible applicants include North Carolina-based compost and anaerobic digestion facilities, organics haulers, local governments, and food recovery organizations that currently manage or plan to manage excess or wasted food to divert it from landfills. Former recipients include compost producers like Wilmington Compost Company, which used the NCDEQ Food Waste Reduction Grant in a previous grant cycle to fund a collection vehicle that supports its food waste diversion efforts.

Two tiers of funding are available: 2026 Priority Project Grants for up to $60,000 for projects deemed critical to growing waste reduction efforts in the state, with priorities including edible food recovery and expanding organics recycling infrastructure. Standard Project Grants offer up to $40,000 for other projects that divert wasted food from landfills, such as creating residential food scrap drop-off sites. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 24, 2025. More information can be found here.