The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $492,600 grant to the Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board to expand recycling projects on the Big Island.

The grant builds on efforts to improve reuse and recycling in West Hawai'i and Kea'au in Puna.

To date, those centers have recycled or mulched nearly 1,300 tons of resources and made possible the reuse of 122 tons of material.

The Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board and the county have received more than $1.5 million in four EPA congressional appropriation grants to develop model reuse and recycling capacity to serve the island's rural communities.