Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Healey-Driscoll administration on Dec. 17 announced $4 million in grants to 285 municipalities and regional solid waste districts to help maximize their recycling, composting and waste reduction programs.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said the funding, through the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program, will help municipalities “implement innovative programs and policies.”
The Sustainable Materials Recovery Program, administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, provides funding for recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction activities that will reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators. Waste prevention and recycling reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing the embodied energy in everyday products and packaging waste and converting it into new products. More than $60 million has been awarded through the program since 2010.
This year, 278 communities qualified for the Recycling Dividends Program and will receive funding totaling more than $3 million. The program recognizes municipalities that have implemented proven policies and programs to maximize materials reuse and recycling, as well as waste reduction. Communities receiving funding must reinvest in their own municipal recycling efforts.
Under Recycling Dividends, 12 municipalities are being awarded grants of more than $50,000: Attleboro, Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Fall River, Lowell, New Bedford, Newton, Quincy, Springfield, Taunton and Worcester.
MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple said the Recycling Dividends Program “helps communities leverage the benefits of increased reuse, recycling, composting, and waste reduction initiatives for a healthier economy and environment.”
Additional grant funds are being awarded to support start-up incentives for Pay-As-You-Throw programs, containers to direct mattresses to recycling facilities, wheeled carts for curbside collection of food waste, equipment for the collection of mercury-bearing items, and regional small-scale initiatives.
The MassDEP also is awarding five large-scale grants for municipal projects that will expand the scope or effectiveness of reuse, recycling, composting, or household hazardous waste programs. These include a grant for $250,000 to the city of Lawrence to establish a permanent household hazardous waste facility for use by residents of Lawrence and neighboring Methuen. The town of Winchester will receive nearly $150,000 to install an aerobic digestor to manage the town’s residential food waste. Three additional large-scale grants were awarded to the town of Brookline and the cities of New Bedford and Newton for waste reduction and reuse projects, totaling more than $250,000.
Other grant awards include:
• $6,000 was awarded to each of 16 municipalities to help create a Reuse Swap Shop to facilitate reuse of durable household goods at their drop-off facilities.
• $5,000 was awarded to each of 13 communities to help purchase a Universal Waste Shed for their drop-off facilities for the collection of mercury-bearing items.
• Nearly $130,000 was awarded to municipalities for wheeled-cart grants for the curbside collection of food waste.
• One municipality received funding to start a Pay-As-You-Throw waste reduction program, in which residents purchase pre-printed bags, stickers, or tags for trash disposal to pay directly for waste generated. MassDEP said Pay-As-You-Throw is a proven waste reduction strategy that continues to be a priority.
The full list of Sustainable Materials Recovery Program awards is available online.