An application for state funding to kick off a recycling program in Vicksburg won approval Thursday from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

The city is seeking up to $25,000 from Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Office of Pollution Control under the Solid Waste Assistance grant program to buy a compartmentalized recycling trailer and about 400 recycling bins for residents.

“It will be strictly a volunteer program and won’t cost the ratepayer anything,” city grant writer Marcia Weaver told the board during a special-called meeting. “The amount (of recyclables) that we collect is just that much less that will be going into our landfill. It’s a win-win situation for the city. It’s a proactive approach to recycling.”

The grant requires no local match.

If funds are granted, the city will partner with MIDD-West Industries, a local nonprofit organization, for the program, Weaver said.

Employees of MIDD-West will sort through the recyclables collected from the bins given to neighborhoods selected by the city, Weaver said.

Only paper and plastic No. 1 and No. 2 will be accepted.

This program comes amid the city’s the negotiations for renewing for a garbage collection contract, which includes a recycling component.

City purchasing director Tim Smith has said before that prices will determine if the city adopts a recycling option under the new garbage collection contract.

The current contract is set to expire June 30.

Also, Vicksburg last week was one of 30 entities awarded bins for recycling from MDEQ.

Those 40 bins will be installed in 18 of the city’s buildings.

“It’s a great opportunity for the citizens of the City of Vicksburg to help conserve, and also it potentially will be savings as we contemplate our garbage disposal as it relates to tonnage,” Mayor Paul Winfield said.