The Recycling & Reuse Business Development Grant (RBDG) program is intended to help Massachusetts recycling processors and manufacturers create sustainable markets for eligible materials, and to add value to municipal and business recycling efforts. Selected applicants will receive grant awards of between $50,000 and $400,000.

Targeted materials for the 2021 RBDG are:

• Container glass: developing market outlets and uses for container glass sourced from MRFs 
• Furniture: reuse or recycling of household, business, or institutional furniture
• Construction & Demolition Materials: project proposals targeting cardboard, wood, metal or clean gypsum wallboard that will increase the process separation rate at C&D handling facilities 
• Textiles: recycling of textiles such as clothing, clean footwear, bedding, towels, curtains, and fabric into new products. 
• Food Materials: use of source separated food scraps, with a particular focus on food material streams that may contain packaging or other contamination, for composting, intermediate processing to supply anaerobic digestion facilities, or similar processes 
• Mattresses: dismantling and recycling of mattresses at a processing facility

Eligible grant funded activities include:  

• Processing activities, which include those reclaiming activities that aggregate, dismantle, densify, shred, bale, culletizeor otherwise process eligible materials.  
• Manufacturing activities, which include those activities that manufacture products with eligible materials. 
• Reuse activities, which includes those activities that use an eligible material again, either in its original state or with refurbishment, for its original purpose or for a nontraditional purpose.

2021 applications are due April 8, 2022 by 5:00pm.

Visit the MassDEP RBDG webpage or for more information about eligibility and material requirements, and a link to the application.