BOSTON – The Baker-Polito administration recently announced that nearly $4 million in grants are being awarded to 80 cities, towns, regional groups and nonprofit organizations for recycling, composting and waste reduction.
Five communities in Bristol County received grants: Dartmouth, Fall River, Freetown, Taunton and Westport.
“Recycling reduces the waste stream, saves money on disposal costs, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, creates renewable energy and stimulates the economy,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. “Through these grants, we hope to encourage local recycling efforts that will help Massachusetts meet its ambitious environmental goals.”
Grants are funded through the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program, created under the Green Communities Act. The program is administered by the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection.
The SMRP offers funding for recycling, composting, reuse and source reduction activities to reduce waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators.
“Organics, paper, metals and plastic constitute more than 65 percent of the materials we throw away today, and the Commonwealth has made it a priority to recycle and compost at least half of that valuable material by 2020,” MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg said. “These grants will help us and our municipal partners meet this progressive environmental goal.”
Funds have been awarded in categories including startup incentives for pay-as-you-throw programs, wheeled-carts for curbside collection of recyclables and kitchen food waste for composting, large containers for collection of target materials at municipal transfer stations, funding for local recycling enforcement coordinators, school recycling assistance programs, organics capacity building projects and waste reduction projects.
A new mattress recycling incentive will be awarded to 48 communities across the state, including Fall River, Freetown, Taunton and Westport.
Fall River will receive $61,700; Freetown, $1,000; Taunton, $49,300; and Westport, $7,100.
According to a press release, mattress recycling incentive grants will pay for the cost of recycling residential mattresses collected and recycled by one of three mattress recycling companies on Massachusetts state contract.
The release said very little mattress recycling happens in Massachusetts, despite approximately 90 percent of a mattress’ components being recyclable. MassDEP has allocated up to $1 million to pay for mattress recycling and expects increased supply will help drive a stronger recycling market.
Two communities – Dartmouth and Taunton – are expected to receive a total of $77,000, or $53,000 and $24,000, respectively, to support hiring of local waste reduction enforcement coordinators to assist in enforcing mandatory recycling, compliance with single-stream recycling or compliance with existing pay-as-you-throw programs.
In addition, Freetown received $5,500 for a roll-off container for bulky rigid plastics and $1,000 for educational materials for a drop-off recycling program.
