Before 1990, Massachusetts residents recycled about 10 percent of their discarded materials.  In 1990, MassDEP established bans on disposal of a number of materials for which recycling was feasible. 

The "waste bans" were phased in over the next five years.  During this time, many municipalities developed infrastructure to collect recyclable materials (particularly those that are banned from disposal) from residents, and move these materials to companies that reuse and recycle them into new products. MassDEP used a variety of grants and other types of assistance to help municipalities develop these programs, and to encourage residents to use them.  By 2006, the statewide MSW recycling rate had reached 37 percent.  MassDEP's grants and technical assistance programs are described below.

MassDEP uses three primary tools to increase residents' access to recycling programs and to encourage their participation: 

• Grants & Assistance
• Training
• Outreach & Education

While these tools have supportd a wide range of municipal waste reduction initiatives, they are increasingly focused on several priority program strategies. 

These areas include development of Pay-As-You-Throw programs, implementation of single-stream recycling and automated collection, implementation of mandatory recycling at the local level, initiatives to increase participation in existing recycling programs (particularly to recycle more paper and cardboard), initiatives to improve collection program efficiency and savings (through improved contracting and collection systems), and programs to increase safe management of hazardous household products. 

MassDEP has provided many different types of grants and technical assistance for municipal recycling programs.

From 1989 until 2003, funds for these efforts were drawn from the Commonwealth's Clean Environment Fund (CEF), which received unredeemed deposits on bottles and cans.  After 2003 (when the Legislature eliminated CEF and most other dedicated funds), appropriations have been made on a year to year basis from the General Fund. 

Historically, as part of its Municipal Waste Reduction/Sustainability Grant Program, MassDEP has provided equipment to support recycling, composting, household hazardous products (HHP), and mercury diversion programs at the local and regional levels.  These grants enable municipalities and schools to create recycling collection infrastructure both in-house (at municipal buildings and schools) and for the community at-large (to serve residents and in some cases businesses).

Reducing the toxicity of the solid waste stream by supporting municipal efforts to collect and properly manage discarded hazardous household products has been a long-time focus of these programs.  Grants for "technical assistance" and "transfer station" have included funding of about $750,000 to help municipalities establish six permanent centers for collecting household hazardous waste (located in Greenfield, Lexington, Newton, Northfield, Quincy and Wellesley) and support one-day collection events in many municipalities (note: MassDEP has not provided funding for disposal of hazardous wastes collected at these events).

The tables below summarize MassDEP's total Municipal Reduction (now Municipal Sustainability) grant awards since the inception of the program in 1989 and provide a list of the equipment, materials and services that the grants have supported.

• Municipal Recycling Incentive Program (MRIP). From the beginning of FY98 until mid-year FY03, MassDEP provided $12.9 million in payments to 241 municipalities for recycling a total of 1.25 million tons of paper, cans and bottles. These payments were separate from grants for recycling equipment and services. This incentive grant program ended in December 2003 when state budget cuts eliminated most of the municipal recycling assistance budget at MassDEP.  Over the five and a half years in which MRIP operated, the tonnage recycled by municipalities participating in the program increased 26 percent, compared to a 12 percent tonnage increase from non-MRIP participant communities between July 1996 and December 2002. 
  
  
• Municipal Assistance Coordinators (MACs). MassDEP funds a network of six regional coordinators who are assigned to work with municipalities on specific projects that reduce waste,  foster regional approaches, improve cost effectiveness and accessibility of  services (contracting for solid waste/recycling, collecting discarded hazardous products from households), and implement local pilots.   MassDEP Boston and regional staff coordinate and deliver additional assistance.  Each year, the MACs deliver more than 10,000 hours of hands-on technical assistance to municipalities throughout the state. Approximately one third of this time is allocated to specific municipal waste reduction projects that are awarded through the Municipal Grant Program each year (averaging 35-40 projects per year). 
  
  
• Waste Reduction Toolkit. As part of its Municipal Sustainability Grants program, MassDEP produces and distributes a toolkit with case studies, outreach material templates, sample press releases, model recycling ordinances, and step-by-step guidance on how to implement mandatory recycling, conduct effective outreach programs, educate businesses about recycling benefits and options, conduct a community-wide "reuse/recycling" event, and plan for "zero waste" events in the community.
  
  
• Workshops, Trainings & Regional Meetings. MassDEP holds an average of 30 municipal workshops and trainings each year on topics ranging from Pay-As-You-Throw implementation, contracting for solid waste/recycling services, grant programs, school chemical management, outreach strategies, and mercury collection and management. Regional meetings of municipal solid waste officials, organized by MassDEP's six MACs, focus on cutting edge programs, recycling markets, industry trends, innovative outreach models, etc.  MassDEP also holds approximately ten workshops each year for the general public on home composting and healthy lawns and landscapes.  See the MassDEP calendar for upcoming events.
  
  
• General Outreach & Education. MassDEP produces and distributes outreach materials for the general public via municipalities, non-profits, local recycling committees, businesses and schools to promote greater awareness of recycling, composting and waste reduction.  This includes a junk mail reduction kit; "Don't Trash Grass" brochure; home composting guide; "Recycling Matters" palm card, "Where Does it All Go?" flier describing what happens to recyclables once they leave the curb, and waste reduction bookmarks.  MassDEP also is a key partner in the statewide Mass Recycles Paper campaign which provides free downloadable recycling advertisements, billing inserts, the "Grass Roots Guide to Recycling More Paper", paper shredding event promotions, and a calculator for municipalities to determine potential savings from increasing their paper recycling rate.

  MassDEP's The Green Team provides lesson plans and activities for teachers to teach conservation, recycling, energy conservation and climate protection in K-12 classrooms, as well as recycling bins for classrooms and compost bins for school composting programs.  During the 2007-08 school year, 825 teachers in 409 schools participated, representing 141,000 students. Since the Green Team was launched in 2003, almost half of the Commonwealth's public schools have had at least one teacher participate.

MassDEP assists businesses and institutions in their efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling, and to develop market-based initiatives for collecting and processing recyclable materials.  In addition, the Department assesses solid waste management facility, waste generator and waste hauler compliance with the waste bans and issues enforcement when violations are identified. 

In 2002, MassDEP assessed the potential for additional waste reduction in Massachusetts waste sectors and material categories.  As a result of that study, MassDEP has focused its technical assistance efforts on business sectors that generate the largest amounts of commercial paper, cardboard and organic materials (especially food waste).  These materials have a combined additional annual waste reduction potential of more than 1.6 million tons, representing more than 75 percent of the total additional commercial waste reduction potential of 2.2 million tons per year.  All these streams have the potential to be recycled or composted cost-effectively well beyond existing levels.
 
MassDEP's strategy for increasing food waste diversion is focused on building processing and hauling infrastructure and working with generators that have the best opportunity to cost-effectively divert food waste from disposal, including supermarkets, hospitals and other health care facilities, hotels and convention centers, colleges and universities, and state institutions such as prisons. 

MassDEP develops partnerships with targeted business sectors and encourages cooperative efforts. Specific initiatives include:

• Supermarket Recycling Program Certification (SRPC). MassDEP has partnered with major supermarket chains, the Massachusetts Food Association (MFA), haulers and compost facilities to increase supermarket composting and recycling through SRPC.  The voluntary program exempts supermarkets that meet recycling performance standards from waste ban inspections, similar to exemptions for municipalities with Department Approved Recycling Program (DARP) status.  Of the 400+ Massachusetts supermarkets represented by 14 chains and independent stores, 219 stores at six major supermarket chains have set up programs that recycle organic waste material.  Of these, 87 stores have certified and the remaining 132 are working towards certification.  MassDEP continues to provide technical assistance to supermarkets wishing to increase their recycling/organics diversion programs.    
  
  
• Massachusetts WasteWise Program. MassDEP has partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WasteWise program to recognize and support Massachusetts business and institutional recycling programs.  The Massachusetts WasteWise Program is a free, voluntary partnership program that assists businesses and organizations in implementing waste reduction and recycling programs.  Massachusetts WasteWise provides technical assistance, networking opportunities, annual recognition awards, as well as two waste reduction forums each year.  The WasteWise Program is expanding to function as an umbrella program that supports MassDEP's efforts to increase commercial waste reduction in targeted sectors.  In 2008, 122 companies were participating in this program - an insrease of 74 percent over the last two years.  Program success is measured by participation rates in forums as well as voluntary reporting to EPA.  
  
  
• Small & Medium-Sized Businesses. MassDEP provides technical assistance to small and medium-sized businesses in meeting their waste management challenges.  Efforts include working with communities to provide access to recycling services through programs sponsored by the municipality or business organizations such as Chambers of Commerce.  Examples include targeted waste reduction programs (e.g., the City of Cambridge's food waste recycling program for businesses and the City of Boston's Sustainable Business Leaders Program, which includes recycling as a part of a broader sustainable business program). 
  
  
• Resource Management Contracting. MassDEP promotes Resource Management (RM) contracting models for businesses and institutions.  Through RM contracting, both the generator and the hauler share incentives for reducing waste, increasing recycling, and saving money.  MassDEP has developed a template RM contract bid document for use in conjunction with the state contract FAC 33 - Recycling and Solid Waste Services (the state contract allows state agencies and municipalities to access a wide variety of services at pre-negotiated prices).  In the last five years, the concept of RM contracting has gained more popular acceptance.  Several Massachusetts recycling companies have incorporated resource management principals in their operational structure. A recent bidders' conference at a state college attracted 22 representatives from 14 waste management firms and resulted in eight bids.     

MassDEP currently fosters recycling markets through a combination of awarding limited, targeted grants, building industry partnerships, and providing information and referrals to companies interested in using recycled feed-stocks to produce new products.  Specific initiatives include:

• Recycling Industries Reimbursement Credit (RIRC) Grant Program. RIRC is a competitive grant program that provides Massachusetts recycling processors and manufacturers with grants worth up to $50,000 for capital equipment and research and development to increase their recycling of difficult to recycle materials.  Targeted materials are selected on an annual basis and currently include organics and construction and demolition (C&D) debris. Since 1999, the RIRC program has given out 63 grants worth a total of $2,546,000 and leveraged an additional $12,359,000 of funding for projects to support Massachusetts-based recycling processors and manufacturers. Historically, grant awards have averaged approximately $40,000 and have funded a variety of projects that have increased capacity to handle "difficult to recycle" materials for which there are economic barriers to recycling. 
  
  Examples of past projects:
  
  
• E.L. Harvey & Sons of Hopkinton purchased two conveyors for the purpose of sorting recyclables materials from construction and demolition debris, including wood and asphalt roofing shingles.
  
  
• Newland Farms of Norton purchased a front-end loader to increase its capacity to process food waste into compost by 1,500 tons per year.
  
  
• P.J. Keating Co. of Lunenburg purchased a shed to store asphalt roofing shingles to be used in the manufacture of asphalt.  The shed keeps shingles dry and has enabled the company to increase its annual use of asphalt shingles from 3,000 tons to 7,000 tons.
  
  
• Recycling Loan Fund. MassDEP provides low-interest loans through the Recycling Loan Fund, which serves the financing needs of the recycling industry (haulers, collectors, processors, manufacturers and retailers) by offering loans ranging from $50,000 to $300,000.  MassDEP capitalized this program, which is administered under contract with BDC Capital.  Since 1996, the Recycling Loan Fund has issued 34 loans worth $6,945,000, and leveraged an additional $22,708,000 in support. MassDEP estimates that these loans have helped to create close to 900 recycling-related jobs in Massachusetts.  Loans have averaged approximately $200,000, and support a wide range of recycling-related businesses. Since 2004, the Recycling Loan Fund has offered low cost (4 percent) capital loans to firms that recycle construction and demolition debris and organic materials, which provides gap financing for projects that will increase the recycling infrastructure in Massachusetts.
  
  
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP). MassDEP works with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Operational Services Division to establish recycled product purchasing opportunities and goals for state agencies, helping to develop procurement contracts, working with key stakeholders from other state agencies, and participating in environmentally preferable purchasing conferences and roundtables, MassDEP helps to institutionalize EPP.  MassDEP also participates in ongoing dialogs with key private and non-profit stakeholder groups supporting EPP such as the Northeast Recycling Council, the Product Stewardship Institute, the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) and the US Green Building Council.

MassDEP estimates that more than 1.1 million tons of food waste is generated annually by Massachusetts businesses and institutions.  Food waste and other organic materials make up nearly 30 percent of commercial waste that is disposed. This material presents an opportunity for additional commercial waste reduction.  While this material presents an opportunity for additional commercial waste reduction, currently only 130,000 tons of annual food waste processing capacity is currently permitted in Massachusetts, leaving a significant need for new capacity. Establishing in-state food waste processing capacity is critical because this material cannot be cost-effectively transported over long distances. 

MassDEP works with farms, cities and towns and large institutions to expand organics processing capacity in Massachusetts.  The Department encourages composting operations to expand so they can accept food waste from local generators, and helps large institutions develop composting operations on their sites. Through grants, technical assistance and an annual composting conference, MassDEP has helped to develop new programs and expand current processing capabilities.