On November 1, 2022, several changes to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) waste ban regulations will go into effect. These changes include lowering the threshold for the existing commercial organics food disposal ban from 1 ton to ½ ton per week and adding mattresses and textiles to the list of waste ban materials. These new waste bans create new business needs and opportunities to expand our collection infrastructure to collect these materials more cost effectively.
This round of the Recycling and Reuse Business Development Grant program is focused on providing grant funding to companies that are expanding their collection of food materials, mattresses and textiles. In the case of food materials, this includes collection of food for donation, as well as food scraps being hauled for animal feed, composting, or anaerobic digestion. This grant is intended to provide funding to support purchases of equipment to expand collection services for these materials. The minimum grant award is $25,000 and the maximum grant award per applicant is $100,000. A minimum financial match of 50% is required.
Eligible materials for the RBDG 2022 Supplemental Grant Round: Collection of New Waste Ban Materials are:
- Equipment to collect food material – either for donation, or for animal feed, composting, or anaerobic digestion
- Equipment to collect mattresses
- Equipment to collect textiles
Eligible grant funded costs include:
- Purchase of a truck or other collection vehicle(s) (vehicles may be new or used but leases are not eligible),
- Purchase of collection containers such as carts, dumpsters, or roll-off containers to expand collection routes and services
- Purchase of equipment or software to increase route efficiency (leasing or subscriptions are not eligible)
The evaluation criteria include whether the applicant is registered as a Certified Business with the Commonwealth’s Supplier Diversity Program (SDP).
Deadline for submissions: 12/9/2022 (5:00pm)
Please visit the MassDEP RBDG webpage for more information about eligibility and material requirements, and a link to the application.