When your workplace hosts an event, the waste needs may be different from your day-to-day operations. With some planning, you can reduce waste and ensure that materials from your event are recycled. Events are also a good opportunity to collect food scraps for composting if your business does not do so already. RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts…
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is offering micro-grants of up to $5,000 for entities implementing short-term waste reduction projects in the state of Massachusetts. Waste reduction offers greater benefits than recycling, as it reduces both the volume of materials going to disposal and the volume of raw materials used during manufacturing. Eligible projects…
The US EPA estimates that approximately 500 million tons of demolition waste are sent to landfills each year, yet much of the ‘waste’ is reusable material. Over the last several decades, a growing network of businesses are realizing the significant opportunities in reclaiming valuable resources through the careful disassembly of buildings. A recent Ensia article…
The Boston Globe recently examined how several Massachusetts higher education institutions are responsibly managing the substantial accumulations of reusable materials on campus. When college and university students leave campus at the end of the school year, they collectively leave behind large quantities of furniture, appliances, clothing, and more. Additionally, many schools are left with surplus…
The Worcester Business Journal recently reported on the expansion of the Devens Eco-Efficiency Center’s recycling program, known as the Great Exchange. The Devens Eco-Efficiency Center created the Great Exchange in 2008 to acquire donated materials such as office supplies, packing materials, furniture, and arts and crafts supplies from area businesses and provide them at little…
Experts estimate that approximately 8.5 million tons of furniture waste is sent to landfills each year, even though much of the “waste” is still usable either as parts or as a whole. Over the past decade, though, increased interest in furniture waste has forged important and fruitful relationships, according to a Waste360 article highlighting the…
UMass Boston’s College of Management is hosting a panel on business opportunities in the circular economy. The concept of a circular economy takes a cradle-to-cradle approach in which products are designed intentionally in order to maximize product life as well as recycling and reuse opportunities. This paradigm shift will have sizable implications for our waste…
A recent Waste 360 article examines the challenges and opportunities associated with offices establishing recycling programs. Waste 360 interviewed Lorenzo Macaluso, an employee for the Center for EcoTechnology who administers the RecyclingWorks in MA program, regarding the management of office waste and steps to improve it. One challenge for offices, Macaluso notes, is finding the…
For participants in the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) and WasteWise programs, annual 2016 data and 2017 goals are due March 31, 2017. Participants in either program must submit their 2016 data and 2017 goals in order to stay active and maintain eligibility to receive awards. Enter data and goals by accessing your account on…
Last spring, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (Mass DHCD) asked RecyclingWorks for help diverting materials from disposal when renovating its properties. RecyclingWorks assisted Mass DHCD with a project involving window, roofing, and siding replacement at seven residential properties in Bourne. The project included replacement of 147 vinyl windows. All of the windows,…
