The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded nearly $1 million in Recycling Business Development Grants (RBDG) to six recycling companies in the state. The RBDG program helps businesses tackle difficult-to-recycle materials, such as contaminated food materials, construction and demolition wood, and bulky rigid plastics. The funds will help these businesses expand their operations and capacity to process recyclable materials which supports Massachusetts’ goal of reducing trash by more than 2 million tons annually.

WWLP 22 News reports on the six businesses that received funding during the latest round of RBDG grant awards:

• Ag-Grid Energy will use the funds to purchase depackaging equipment for a new anaerobic digestion facility in Granville. RecyclingWorks recently wrote about the potential for depackaging technology to increase food waste diversion in Massachusetts.
• Charles George Fitchburg, a construction & demolition (C&D) processing facility in Fitchburg, requested the funds to purchase a new sorting line that will enable operators to more easily separate wood, bulky rigid plastics, and other materials.
• Martin’s Farm Compost in Greenfield is planning to purchase a screener to remove small pieces of plastic, metal, glass and other contamination from its compost.
• ReEnergy Roxbury, a C&D processing facility in Boston, will purchase additional storage bunkers and a bailer which will enable them to separate an additional 15,000 tons of recyclable material each year.
• United Material Management of Millbury will apply the funds to purchase state-of-the art equipment for its new C&D processing facility.
• Waste Management received funds to expand the capacity of its Centralized Organics Recycling (CORe) facility in Boston. Check out the RecyclingWorks blog about Waste Management’s CORe facility to learn more.

Previous grant recipients have demonstrated how the RBDG program successfully contributes to greater levels of waste diversion. For example, MassLive recently reported on the successes of Springfield-based Northstar Pulp & Paper, which received three RBDG awards totaling $215,000 over the last two years. This funding has helped the recycler purchase new equipment, increase the size of the workforce, and offer new safety education and training to employees who process as much as 20,000 tons of scrap material each month.

RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts provides recycling and food recovery assistance to businesses and institutions. Many of the service providers listed above are included in the RecyclingWorks Find-A-Recycler tool, which allows users to search for local haulers and recycling businesses across Massachusetts. To speak to a recycling and food recovery expert, call our hotline: (888) 254-5525 or email us at info@recyclingworksma.com.