A step toward reuse

Talk about it

When Kim Braun moved to North Dakota she was astounded at the lack of recycling options. However, her new residence in New England may offer recycling if a study shows it’ll work.

New England City Council members passed a resolution to accept $73,253 in a Rural Business Opportunity Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Monday to help with recycling options.

Prairie West Development in Beach also received a RBOG grant of $74,000 and is contemplating a flax and paper recycling facility there.

“If that happens maybe we can work together to benefit the region,” said Susan Miller, Strom Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation associate director of technology. The center helped draft a grant application.

The grants will allow the cities to determine if the facilities are feasible.

“The idea for the glass recycling/remanufacturing facility first came about because recycling was really big where we used to live (Rapid City, S.D.),” Braun said.

Glass can be recycled over and over, Braun said. It’s also cost efficient to use glass old glass rather than the raw materials used to make glass.

“Glass seemed like a good idea because it’s 100 percent recyclable,” Miller said.

The New England study is expected to take 15 months and will vary between three and seven team members, plus North Dakota State University students and interns.

If all goes according to plan the study should be done by December 2011, Miller said.

“We hope it shows that it is a good project and that we can do this,” Miller said.

If the study reveals it’s a viable operation it would definitely be an asset to our community, New England Mayor Marty Opdahl said.

“The pursuit of this project and others shows our residents have dreams and aren’t afraid to pursue them,” he said. “It also shows that there are programs available that will help them pursue their dreams.”

The study will cover costs, jobs, locations and more.

Tags: news, recycle, new, england, grant