2026-2027 TEXAS RECYCLES DAY GRANT

TEXAS RECYCLES DAY GRANT

SUPPORTED BY COCA-COLA SOUTHWEST BEVERAGES

ABOUT

Thanks to Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages and in celebration of Texas Recycles Day, Keep Texas Beautiful is proud to announce the Texas Recycles Day Grant. This grant provides Keep Texas Beautiful affiliates and Keep Texas Recycling partners with funding to help strengthen existing local recycling programs.

Competitive projects should address a specific recycling need or operational barrier and create a clear improvement in recycling access, capacity, efficiency, material recovery, material quality, or program reliability.

Projects must fall within one or more of the following categories:

Education and Outreach
Recycling Program Improvement
Infrastructure and Equipment

GRANT AMOUNT

Applicants can request funding between $5,000-$25,000.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible applicants are:

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) affiliates in Good Standing or higher, including new KTB affiliates
Keep Texas Recycling (KTR) partners

The eligible KTB affiliate or KTR partner must be the applicant and have an active role in managing the proposed project, grant funds, and required reporting. Schools, businesses, nonprofits, community groups, and other organizations may participate as project partners but may not apply independently using the name of a KTB affiliate or KTR partner.

CRITERIA

Projects must be completed and funding spent by Wednesday, June 30, 2027. If total project costs exceed the grant amount, the project must be completed using other sources of funding. Please note, the project must be completed in the designated time frame or the funding must be returned to KTB. Applicants must agree to submit a final report on their project by Friday, July 30, 2027 (see Timeline section for more details).

Special consideration for all awards will be given to projects that:

Address the collection of PET
Are located in communities that host both a KTB affiliate and KTR recycling center.

Project concepts could include, but are not limited to:

Purchasing, connecting, or upgrading equipment that improves recycling collection, storage, sorting, processing, transportation, measurement, or access
Increasing the number of recyclable commodities collected or expanding recycling access
Improving recycling program efficiency, cost-effectiveness, reliability, or capacity
Piloting a new recycling service and collecting data to determine whether the service should continue or expand
Conducting targeted education and outreach to reduce contamination, improve material quality, increase participation, or support a new or existing recycling service
Developing public-private collaborations to improve waste diversion in the community

INELIGIBLE USES

Grant funds may not be used for:

Repayment of existing debt or obligations
Organizational overhead
Legal fees
Loan or bank fees
Subsidization of existing contracts
Employee salaries or administrative expenses
Land acquisition
Pass-through grants
Projects conducted in elementary or middle schools
Field trips

TIMELINE

Tuesday, September 1, 2026: Grant application opens
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 5 p.m. CDT: Grant application due
Friday, November 13, 2026: Winners announced
Wednesday, March 31, 2027, 5 p.m. CDT: Progress Report due
Wednesday, June 30, 2027: Projects completed & grant funds spent
Friday, July 30, 2027, 5 p.m. CDT: Final Report due

Compliance note: By accepting grant funds, recipients agree to comply with program criteria and deadlines, including timely submission of required reports. Failure to comply may affect eligibility for KTB benefits and future KTB or KTR grant opportunities.

To view more resources for this grant, please visit our website.

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Please choose one of the following options:

Keep Texas Beautiful Affiliate Organization

KTR Partner Organization:

W-9 or EIN:

Contact Information

Contact First Name

First Name

Contact Last Name

Title

Address

Street 1

Street 2

City

Zip Code

Phone

Amount Requested

Other:

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Click here to preview an application sample.

Application Questions - 300 words maximum per question

Project Description

1. Briefly describe the proposed project and what the grant will allow your organization to purchase, create, expand, or improve. Summarize the main activities or purchases, project locations, materials addressed, and the people who will use or benefit from the project.

Community Need and Existing Recycling Efforts

2. Describe the recycling need this project will address and the recycling services or activities that currently exist in your community. Include what recycling opportunities are currently available; the operational, infrastructure, access, or education gap that currently limits the program; who is affected; and how the proposed project will strengthen, expand, or improve existing recycling services.

Goals and Expected Outcomes

3. What will be different as a result of this project? Identify two to four specific goals or expected outcomes. Describe both the results you expect during the grant period and, where applicable, how the investment will strengthen recycling capacity or operations beyond the grant period. Outcomes might include expanding recycling access; serving additional households, businesses, schools, or sites; increasing the amount or types of material collected; reducing contamination; reducing hauling or operating costs; improving storage, processing, or collection efficiency; increasing program reliability; or creating capacity for future program growth.

Implementation Plan and Readiness

4. List the major steps needed to complete the project within the grant period. Identify when each step will occur and who will lead it. Include activities such as purchasing, site preparation, installation, outreach, launch, data collection, and project closeout, as applicable. Confirm necessary sites, permissions, staffing, vendors, and collection, hauling, or processing arrangements—or explain when and how they will be secured. For equipment or infrastructure projects, describe how the equipment will be incorporated into ongoing recycling operations once installed.

Project Budget

Click here to see a sample itemized budget and a list of suggested budget categories.

Please provide an itemized project budget.

5. Upload a complete, itemized project budget using the provided budget template. If the full request is not awarded, explain the minimum amount needed to complete a feasible project and what would be prioritized, reduced, delayed, or removed. Identify any other confirmed or anticipated funding, donated materials, staff time, site improvements, or other resources supporting the project.

Partners and Organizational Capacity

6. Who will help complete the project, and what will each organization or department contribute? Describe your organization’s ability to manage the project and complete the required reporting. Include partner roles, whether participation is confirmed, responsible staff or volunteers, and relevant experience with purchasing, installation, recycling operations, outreach, financial documentation, or grant reporting.

Project Sustainability

7. How will the project or program continue after the grant period ends? Include who will own, operate, maintain, or replace equipment; how hauling, supplies, repairs, staffing, education, and other recurring costs will be covered; and how partners or the community will remain involved. For equipment or infrastructure requests, explain what the investment will allow your recycling program to do that it cannot do today and how you expect that benefit to continue over the useful life of the equipment.

Measurement and Reporting

8. How will you determine whether the project achieved its expected outcomes? Identify 2–4 measures appropriate to the size and type of your project. For each measure, provide a baseline when available, a realistic grant-period target, the documentation or data source, and the person or partner responsible for collecting the information. Measures may include pounds collected by material, residents gaining recycling access, participants reached, events held, contamination rates, knowledge gained, sites served, or changes in participation.

Promotion and Funder Recognition

9. How will you make community members aware of the project and share project progress or results? Describe how Arca-Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages will be recognized in project-related communications. If awarded, grant recipients will be required to follow the grant’s promotion and funder-recognition requirements.

Public Project Description

10. For public reporting purposes, concisely describe the purpose of the proposed grant in one sentence beginning with: “To support…”

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APPLICATION GUIDELINES

The application must be completed in its entirety and submitted online, with any requested supporting documents attached.

Answer every question with adequate information and detail.
Do not submit materials that are not requested or that do not directly support an application response.
Submit the application to KTB by Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 5 p.m. CDT.

PROMOTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Grant recipients will receive a promotional toolkit containing social media resources and a customizable press release to help share their project with the community.

Grant recipients must:

Share at least two project photos on Facebook, Instagram, and/or LinkedIn; tag Keep Texas Beautiful (@keeptxbeautiful) and Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages (@cocacolaswb); and use #KeepTexasRecycling.
Acknowledge Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages in relevant project publicity and promotional materials.

Grant recipients may also be invited to participate in a regional press event.

Contact Corinne Hughes with questions or concerns at chughes@ktb.org

You can save and print your application after submitting.

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