Nearly $700,000 in federal infrastructure funding will be invested in recycling infrastructure and waste management systems in Arizona.
The new plan, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, will serve as a long-term framework and collect data to assess current recycling efforts in the state.
Advocates say it’ll also address environmental hazards and create economic opportunities.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocates $275 million in total over four years for grants authorized under the Save Our Seas Act, which was the largest U.S. investment in recycling in 30 years.
That bipartisan legislation is designed to combat ocean plastic pollution worldwide.
Plastic that winds up in the ocean is very difficult to remove and international initiatives are currently aimed at keeping it out of oceans in the first place and help countries reduce, reuse and recycle.