EREF Guidelines/Grants

Grants are awarded on an annual basis and must fit within the foundation’s mission statement. Funding of research projects is guided by a long-range Strategic Research Plan, which contains general research specialization areas, while specific research topics are determined on an annual basis and prioritized in the EREF’s annual research agenda. Proposals submitted to the foundation must be in response to a formal request for proposals (RFP) or must follow the protocol for submitting an unsolicited proposal (see below).

Mission Statement

The mission of the EREF is to promote environmental solutions for the future through research and education explicitly as it relates to developing and evaluating new approaches to manage solid waste. The EREF is presently North America’s only grant making public charity committed to pursuing advances in waste management practices, employee safety, and environmental protection that benefits the public good and all stakeholders in the solid waste industry.

Solicited versus Unsolicited Proposal Submissions

The EREF routinely assesses research needs within the solid waste field via the EREF Research Council, a committee comprised of industry stakeholders and academia. These needs are evaluated in consideration of EREF’s board approved Strategic Research Plan and are used to develop an annual research agenda. Once the annual agenda is set, general and/or targeted requests for proposals are generated at the request of the Research Council by EREF staff. Grant proposals submitted in response to a posted RFP are considered solicited. All other proposals are considered unsolicited.

Proposals for solid waste research are requested that fit within the EREF’s annual research agenda. To respond to this solicitation, please download the formal RFP for instructions and submittal criteria found here. There are two annual deadlines for solicited proposal submissions:

Proposals will be accepted 10 days prior to the deadline dates listed above up to the close of business (5:00 p.m. eastern time) on the deadline date. If not received by this time, proposals will not be considered. Generally, a response regarding proposal status will be given within 45 – 60 days from the submittal date. If any of the above dates fall on a weekend, then the deadline will be the Monday following the due date.

Unsolicited proposals consist of research projects or educational initiatives that fit within the EREF’s mission statement but may not fit within the foundation’s Strategic Research Plan or annual research agenda. Any proposals for educational initiatives must be used to develop tools (e.g. software, websites, curricula, webinars, seminars, etc.) that specifically promote awareness or increase knowledge of the solid waste industry. The development of tools to be used for commercial purposes, or that will be considered proprietary, will generally not be considered unless approved by the EREF a priori.

ALL unsolicited proposals must complete a pre-proposal application to be considered for funding. Successful pre-proposals will then be invited to submit a full proposal. Pre-proposal applications are not required for solicited proposals. All decisions rendered on pre-proposal applications will be sent via email.

Pre-proposals will be accepted 10 days prior to the deadline dates listed above up to the close of business (5:00 p.m. eastern time) on the deadline date. If not received by this time, proposals will not be considered.

Generally, a response regarding pre-proposal status will be given within ~30 days from the submittal date. If any of the above dates fall on a weekend, then the deadline will be the Monday following the due date. Successful pre-proposals will be given 45 - 60 days from the date of invitation to submit a full proposal for consideration. Deadlines for invited full proposals will be July 1 (for April 1 pre-proposal submissions) and January 8 (for October 1 pre-proposal submissions).

Funding will not be provided for capital campaigns, political contributions, religious causes, operating funds, loans, support of lobbying activities, or commercial product development.

Because the amount of funding for research is limited, the foundation encourages submitting parties to form partnerships with other funding sources (real-dollars or in-kind services). Parties should identify the sources and amounts of external funding in their submissions.

All proposals and pre-proposals shall be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word^® or in portable document format (PDF) following the criteria provided. Pre-proposal submissions that do not use the application form will not be reviewed. Electronic submittals must be in a single document or PDF. Multiple files will not be accepted.

If a full electronic submittal is not possible, the submitter must contact the foundation before sending a hard copy.

Bryan Staley, Ph.D., P.E.
Vice President of Environmental Research
Environmental Research and Education Foundation
901 N. Pitt Street, Suite 270
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone: 703-299-5139 x11
Fax: 703-299-5145
Email: bstaley@erefdn.org

The EREF scholarship program awards recipients annually. All applications should be completed and submitted to EREF by the due date noted in the application. Please click here for scholarship details and guidelines.