This week the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced the Bin Program 2020 Request for Proposals from the Fishing for Energy partnership. The NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to be part of this collaboration, along with NFWF, Covanta, and Schnitzer Steel to facilitate the proper disposal of retired and derelict commercial fishing gear for recycling and for energy conversion at select ports across the United States. The deadline for full proposals is Thursday, April 30, 2020. An applicant webinar will be held Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 3:00 PM ET.
Fishing for Energy launched in 2008 and its goals are to provide a no-cost solution for fishers to dispose of old, derelict, or unusable fishing gear, and to reduce the amount of derelict fishing gear in and around our coastal waterways. Gear collected through the Bin Program is first sorted for metals recycling, and the remaining non-recyclable material is transported to waste-to-energy facilities and converted into energy.
For the first ten years, the partnership provided the logistical and administrative support for the transport of gear from each port to a Schnitzer Steel recycling and Covanta energy facility. In recent years, the partnership has grown and established a new structure that provides greater flexibility for ports to participate in the Bin Program by allowing them to use additional recyclers and waste-to-energy facilities.
Under the new model, the Fishing for Energy Bin Program will now provide small financial awards to grantees to meet their disposal costs, and then renew these awards as needed. These adjustments will allow for new locations to be added and will increase the amount of gear that can be collected and recycled.
Grants will target U.S. coastal communities’ waters. Priority will be given to maintain existing Fishing for Energy bin ports with the potential to add additional ports, funds permitting.
The full announcement can be found at: https://www.nfwf.org/programs/fishing-energy/fishing-energy-bin-program-2020-request-proposals