Regional Recycling and Edible Food Recovery Grant
The Regional Recycling and Edible Food Recovery (RREFR) program provides funding to support projects that advance recycling, waste reduction, and edible food recovery efforts in Orange County. Administered by OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR), the program helps meet state-mandated waste diversion requirements, including Assembly Bill 939 and Senate Bill 1383, which require jurisdictions statewide to recover 20 percent of surplus edible food.
The RREFR grant focuses on expanding edible food recovery countywide. The 2024 Edible Food Recovery Capacity Planning Report projects that, between 2025 and 2034, 40,000 tons of edible food will be landfilled compared to just 10,000 tons recovered. The grant aims to bridge the gap by strengthening regional infrastructure for the safe collection, storage, transportation, and distribution of edible food, and by supporting projects that achieve measurable diversion of edible food from landfills.
Application opens March 2, 2026. To receive updates on the RREFR Grant Program, subscribe to both the Grant page on this website and OpenGov for the most up-to-date information.
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DUE DATE |
Applications and supporting materials are due by 4:59 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2026. Both a hard copy and an online grant application package must be submitted before the due date. Supplemental materials must also meet this deadline to be considered as part of the application. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
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ELIGIBILITY |
Eligible applicants include those that provide services related to edible food recovery. These include but are not limited to edible food recovery organizations, food pantries, food banks, food prep kitchens and other food recovery organizations and entities as the lead applicant. Social services, wraparound services, and other community service organizations are encouraged to apply if they are looking to establish a new edible food recovery program. Eligible projects may include, but are not limited to, new or expanded edible food recovery programs, cold storage and transportation infrastructure, data-tracking software and equipment, education and outreach programs, and supplies related to edible food recovery and distribution.
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FUNDING |
Spanning a five-year grant term, up to $6 million is available over the first three fiscal years, with individual grant awards not to exceed $500,000 per project.
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More information can be found in the Application Guidelines and Instructions in the Resources section.
Question and Answer Period
The question and answer period is now open and available on the OpenGov portal through 4:59 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2026. All questions must be submitted via the OpenGov portal. All Q&As will be posted as they are received and are subject to updates.
OC Waste & Recycling will host a live question and answer virtual meeting on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88062601880?pwd=aAAX7YOaV6rsOM4j7yzQaxEEauTR4Q.1.
Unable to attend the meeting? The session will be recorded and can be accessed on the grant web page following the live session.
Notice: The County of Orange, OC Waste & Recycling reserves the right to modify the grant timeline should it deem in its sole discretion to be in the best interest of the County. If any changes are made, the County will post such changes at oclandfills.com/grants.