Newark Gets Anti-Litter Grant

The city has received a $322, 906 state “Clean Communities” grant, money earmarked for litter cleanup efforts, the Department of Environmental Protection has announced.

The state disbursed $16 million in grants to nearly every community and county in the state, with Newark receiving the single largest award.

“Cleaning up litter protects our natural resources, improves our quality of life and builds a strong sense of pride in our communities,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “With these grants, our municipalities and counties will be able to carry out important programs that remove litter and graffiti from our neighborhoods and highways, making our communities better places to live and work.”

The Clean Communities grants are funded by a legislated user-fee on manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors that produce litter-generating products. Disbursements to municipalities are based on the number of housing units and miles of municipally owned roadways within each municipality. Disbursements to counties are based on the number of miles of roads each county owns.

Among the activities funded by the grants are volunteer cleanups of public properties, adoption and enforcement of local anti-littering ordinances, beach cleanups, public information and education programs, purchases of equipment used to collect litter, purchases of litter receptacles and recycling bins, purchases of anti-litter signs, purchases of supplies to remove graffiti, and cleanups of stormwater systems that can disperse trash into streams, rivers and bays.