The Department of Energy awarded Cobb County a more than $500,000 grant to set up a Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) facility, upgrade electric vehicle charging facilities, and develop a Sustainability Action Plan for the county.

The center will join several other such initiatives in the state that are already operating, including LiveThrive CHaRM in Atlanta and Decatur and a center in Athens-Clark County near the University of Georgia.

The grant was awarded as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.

On its web site, the DOE describes this block grant program as follows:

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program is designed to assist states, local governments, and Tribes in implementing strategies to reduce energy use, to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to improve energy efficiency.

“We are so excited and grateful in Cobb County to have the opportunity to focus on sustainability measures and ensure all residents, employees, and visitors have a clean and sustainable environment,” said Cobb’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kimberly White, quoted in the announcement on the county website. “Besides funding infrastructure improvements, the grant will help us think forward by building a sustainability strategic plan for Cobb County. The path to a sustainable future in Cobb County has arrived!”

The EECBG is part of the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

A press release from the Department of Energy describes the grant to Cobb County as follows:

Cobb County, GA will purchase equipment to support the construction of a Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) facility. This recycling drop-off facility aims to improve environmental health by diverting waste and other hard-to-recycle items from landfills and water systems. The county will also develop a Sustainability Action Plan to identify opportunities and risks related to decarbonization and other sustainability concepts. Remaining funds will be used to replace 11 outdated public electric vehicle chargers with more efficient models and purchase an additional seven solar-powered off-grid charging stations to support the county’s fleet electrification efforts. These latter two activities will follow EECBG Program Blueprints 4A: Electric Vehicles and Fleet Electrification and 4B. EV Charging Infrastructure for the Community. (Award amount: $557,290) 

According to the county’s announcement:

Cobb’s future mini-CHaRM facility will improve environmental health by diverting waste and other hard-to-recycle items from landfills and water systems. The grant will also allow the county to replace 11 outdated public electric vehicle chargers with more efficient models and purchase seven solar-powered off-grid charging stations to support the county’s fleet electrification efforts.