The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced more than $4 million in Sustainable Materials Recovery Program grants to 280 municipalities and regional collaboratives to help communities maximize recycling, composting and waste reduction. “These grants support our communities, expand recycling and composting efforts, and target new materials to remove from the waste stream,” said聽Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “We are committed to ensuring our cities and towns have the resources they need to become more sustainable and achieve their goals of reducing disposal costs and the amount of waste in our landfills.”
“Each time we reuse or recycle, we are contributing to a more sustainable future,” said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. “This funding supports local innovation and expansion of programs that make it easier for residents to minimize waste.” MassDEP鈥檚 Sustainable Materials Recovery Program聽(SMRP) provides funding for recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction activities that decrease the amount of waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators. In addition to minimizing solid waste, SMRP projects boost resiliency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing the embodied energy in everyday products and packaging materials for conversion into new products.
More than $60 million has been awarded through SMRP since 2010. This year, awards are being granted through six programs that operate under the SMRP umbrella: the Recycling Dividends Program, Regional Small-scale Initiatives, Drop-off Recycling Equipment, Food Waste Collection Carts, Pay-As-You-Throw, and Waste Reduction projects.
The Recycling Dividends Program supports municipal policies and programs proven to maximize materials reuse and recycling, as well as waste reduction. This year, 271 communities will receive awards totaling nearly $2.95 million. Eight municipalities are being awarded RDP grants of more than $50,000: Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Lowell, New Bedford, Newton, Springfield, and Worcester.
Additional grant funds are being awarded to support start-up incentives for Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) waste reduction programs, wheeled carts for the curbside collection of residential food waste, recycling equipment for targeted materials at a municipal recycling drop-off or transfer station (鈥渇acility鈥�), and regional small-scale initiatives to support regional entities working with multiple municipalities.
The awards include:
- $518,000 in total funding for PAYT programs, awarded to 4 municipalities.
- $400,000 total for various drop-off recycling equipment, including cardboard compactors, source-separated glass containers, paint sheds, food waste containers and collection systems to be located at a drop-off facility, reuse swap sheds for facilitating the reuse of durable household goods, and Universal Waste (UW) Sheds for the collection of mercury-bearing goods.
- $82,500 for wheeled carts for the curbside collection of residential food waste, awarded to 5 municipalities.
- $8,000 for regional small-scale initiatives, awarded to 5 regional groups.
- $90,000 to the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension to facilitate food rescue and other sustainable solutions for food waste.
- $31,000 to the City of Somerville to upgrade its household hazardous waste facility to facilitate proper disposal of hazardous products for residents.
Finally, MassDEP is also awarding two large-scale grants to expand reuse, recycling, composting, or household hazardous waste programs.
Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro) commented, “These Sustainable Materials Recovery grants are a terrific example of how smart investments can help Cape Codders and Islanders reduce waste, lower emissions, and protect our fragile environment. I’m grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the team at MassDEP for continuing to partner with our towns and Barnstable County on practical solutions to build a more sustainable future.”
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