Whitehall Township has received a $250,000 recycling grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“It is the largest grant to the township,” Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said at the June 13 Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting.

The grant, awarded under the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, has no strings attached - the township has no requirement to come up with matching or additional funds to make it applicable.

Hozza said a big factor for the township receiving the grant is the recent major change in the recyclable collection service - the green and yellow toter carts that have substantially reduced waste going into landfills.

More than 8,000 households in the township received the toters, which were paid for by the township without raising refuse and recycling fees. The cost of the toters was $325,000.

The second phase of the major overhaul in collecting refuse and recyclable materials is expected later this year, this time involving the collection of garbage.

Other Lehigh County municipalities awarded DEP grants include South Whitehall Township, $168,495, leaf waste collection program; Lower Macungie Township, $250,000, recycling collection program; and Washington Township, $34,668, leaf waste processing program.