Residential Sharps Collection Program

Sharps Collection Site Location List

Announcement of Residential Sharps Collection Program Funding Opportunity: Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) *NEW APPLICATION PROCESS – SEE BELOW*

Fiscal Year 24 (FY24): Illinois EPA approve 28 grantees totaling approximately $535,021.00.

During the two years of operation, the sharps program has funded programs in 34 out of 102 counties in Illinois (33.3%, with potential for programmatic expansion under the posted Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

The FY26 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announces the availability of $600,000 in funding from the Illinois Solid Waste Management Fund (SWMF), administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA or Agency) Materials Management and Compliance Section (MMCS). The SWMF provides funding for conducting household waste collection and disposal programs. See 415 ILCS 5/22.15(i). Sharps collected from private citizens are a household waste.

Illinois EPA MMCS intends to reimburse units of local government that operate a sharps collection station, as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, for expenses incurred in collection, storing, and disposing of used sharps. Eligible expenses include costs for advertising sharps collection stations, costs for educational materials focused on proper disposal of sharps, costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents (if not otherwise available from the Agency), collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by an appropriately permitted potentially infectious medical waste (PIMW) transporter to pick up collected sharps, and disposal fees for the collected sharps. Each unit of local government is eligible for the actual costs of sharps collection and disposal, up to $35,000.00 per funding opportunity. Eligibility criteria and more information can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Beginning with FY26, applications for the Residential Sharps Collection Program need to be submitted through AmpliFund. Click the link below to access the NOFO and submit an application.

The application requires the following application forms: Uniform Application for State Grant Assistance, a Project Narrative, Conflict of Interest Disclosure, and a proposed program budget. All of these forms are to be filled out in AmpliFund when drafting an application. Applicants will also be required to fill out a performance plan detailing milestones and deliverables to be achieved throughout the grant period.

Link for Sharps Grant Application: https://il.amplifund.com/Public/Opportunities/Details/7d51cdff-366e-499c-b097-536369159653

Question and Answer Assistance: 

1. How will the reimbursement process work?
Applicants will be reimbursed monthly and should include the following information:

• Grantee Name/Address
• Date Submitted
• Service Dates
• Invoice Amount
• Provide Backup documentation

2. Are the Anticipated Dates listed in the NOFO drop-dead dates?
Applicants are able to apply until the total allotted funding has been exhaused.  Anticipated announcement dates are receipt of a Notice of State Award (NOSA) approximately 30 days after the receipt of an eligible application and a fully executed Grant Agreement approximately 60 days after the receipt of a signed NOSA. Remaining drop-dead dates are the June 30, 2026 final eligible collection date for sharps reimbursed under this award and July 31, 2026 submission of final reports to the Illinois EPA.

3. Does the Illinois EPA plan for this program to be an annual occurrence, with this same process EVERY year, or multiple years?

Illinois EPA hopes that this will become a permanent program and the details of the grant application are continually being sorted out. Please note: all grant funding is subject to appropriation.

4. Please clarify whether the criteria listed in Section E.1 on page 4 of 9 of the NOFO are the correct criteria that applications will be reviewed against? Also, does the applicant check these?
These questions and the need, capacity, and quality questions necessary in the narrative are the criteria applicants will be evaluated on. A contingency for approval is meeting all criteria and the applicant should check these items and include them in their application.

5. For a facility, such as a Health Department, that generates their own sharps with a vendor already AND holds collections for citizens, is it necessary to have separate vendor contracts to document what is separate, or can we “estimate” based upon past collections what is department-generated and then what is citizen-related and eligible for the grant?
For grant reimbursement purposes, an estimation would not be acceptable, the contractor should be able to apportion this for you with separate invoices.

6. Does Illinois EPA need to see the contract that is procured with a vendor with the application, or just the information within the application?
Only the information in the application is needed. As part of the grant reporting process, the contract information should be provided.

7. I’m having problems opening the budget forms, is there an alternative?
If you get the following message, right click on the document, and save to your computer.  Then, open the forms outside of the browser or in the desktop application. If this doesn’t work, you can email epa.gata@illinois.gov.:

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8. Do all disposal facilities, in and out of state, need an IEPA facility ID Number?
Yes.  The application can be found here: 
https://epa.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/epa/documents/epa-forms/land/inventory-identification-number-application.pdf  

9. Are “indirect costs” reimbursable?
Yes.

10. Are kiosks purchased from vendors reimbursable?
Yes.

11. Are personnel costs reimburseable? 

No, only costs listed as eligible in the NOFO are reimburseable.

If you have any questions regarding the program, sharps issues, or current or future grant applications/reporting contact:

Materials Management and Compliance Section
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Land
Email: epa.recycling@illinois.gov
Phone: (217) 524-3300