The Business Food Waste Mitigation Grant Program is designed to reduce business-generated food waste in New York State. The program will divert food waste from landfill and combustion facilities thereby advancing a key strategy from NY’s Climate Action Council’s Scoping Plan. Food waste makes up 18% of the total municipal solid waste in New York. Reducing the disposal of food waste is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Successful business food waste mitigation projects are those that will expand food waste recycling infrastructure in the State to reduce commercial food waste sent to landfill and combustion facilities. The program provides grants to cover costs of equipment purchased for the purpose of building new, or expanding existing, organics recycling facilities to accept food waste from large-scale businesses, at a minimum.
Eligible Recipients:
Eligible Entities: New York State municipalities and non-profit / not-for-profit organizations undertaking a food waste mitigation project.
OR
New York State municipalities and non-profit / not-for-profit organizations may apply on behalf of a New York State-based business undertaking a food waste mitigation project. In this scenario, the New York State business would be considered a co-implementor.
Please refer to the Program Guidelines for more information.
Eligible Projects:
Eligible projects include the purchase of machinery and equipment for the purpose of collecting, processing, and recycling food waste from businesses, and the distribution of byproduct(s) such as compost.
Examples of eligible equipment include:
- processing equipment (e.g. compactor, dehydrator, depackager, windrow turner, grinder);
- management equipment (e.g. forklift); and
- transportation equipment (e.g. trucks).
Funding Source:
Empire State Development
Funding Amount:
Grants will be awarded competitively and will range from $100,000 – $750,000.
Funding Deadline:
Applications must be completed via the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA). Applications must be received by 4:00 PM May 23, 2025
Contact:
If you have questions, email FoodWasteMitigation@esd.ny.gov. Procurement policies prohibit direct email responses, however, your question and respective answer will be included in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) updated weekly as needed.
More Information:
https://esd.ny.gov/business-food-waste-mitigation-grant-program