The Recycling Partnership announced that it has awarded a grant for residential recycling carts to the City of Athens, Ohio.

Athens joins a list of grant recipients, including the most recent to deliver carts, Emmet County, Mich. and Greenville, S.C.  Athens, a college town with a longstanding history of recycling, will use The Recycling Partnership’s grant funds and technical assistance to purchase 5,000 new recycling carts and deliver a high-quality education campaign. Local nonprofit Rural Action is also providing staff support to move the project forward.

“We are excited to partner with such a dedicated community,” Cody Marshall, the Recycling Partnership’s technical assistance director, said in a statement. “This also provides a great opportunity to grow recycling and show successful recovery in a very rural region of the country.”

The grant will allow the city to capitalize on recent improvements made to the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center’s MRF, as it will improve curbside access to recycling, making it more convenient for residents citywide, including those living in multifamily housing, which in Athens is predominately students.  Athens anticipates that cart distribution will take place in early fall 2016.

“We are proud of this project,” Athens’ Deputy Service-Safety Director Ron Lucas said in a statement. “Our community prides itself on its environmental ethic and access to increase recycling through the new carts is an easy way for residents to participate in building a stronger Athens.

Lucas also noted, “This project is a perfect example of ‘partnership.’ Our hauler and processor, Athens-Hocking Recycling Center, has been great to work with, and we are pleased to partner with both The Recycling Partnership and our local recycling experts, Rural Action, to bring lasting improvements to our community.”

It’s the latest announcement in a flurry of news from the organization. Earlier this month, it celebrated a milestone of helping its first 100 communities improve their recycling programs.

In May, the United States Environmental Protection Agency joined with The Recycling Partnership to conduct a research project on curbside recycling in the U.S. While the research will specifically focus on EPA regions 3, 4 and 5, it will also provide a national overview.