42° and Overcast
Image
12-17-2024 11:39pm
Westwood and Surrounding Towns Receive Thousands in State Funding to Help with Recycling, Composting, and Waste Reduction
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Westwood and surrounding towns will receive a total of over $52,000 among them in Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) grants from the state, that are intended to help communities, municipalities, and regional solid waste districts in Massachusetts by maximizing their recycling, composting, and waste reduction programs, announced the Healey-Driscoll Administration from Boston on Tuesday, December 17.
The grant amounts from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Recycling Dividends Program are as follows:
- Westwood - $4,620.00
- Canton - $910.00
- Dedham - $6,370.00
- Dover - $6,000.00
- Medfield – $6,000.00
- Needham - $22,000.00
- Walpole – $6,160.00
"As Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, I know that reducing, reusing, and recycling (in that order!) our plastics and other waste materials keep our communities clean and protect our shared planetary and personal health," said Senator Becca Rausch (D-Needham). "These grants play an important role in supporting and supplementing our towns’ recycling and waste reduction efforts."
"Every day, communities across Massachusetts are taking important steps towards environmental protection and sustainability through waste reduction," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "This funding will further empower municipalities to implement innovative programs and policies that are proven to maximize reuse, recycling, and composting."
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s SMRP Program provides funding for recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction activities that will reduce the amount of waste going to landfills and incinerators. Communities receiving funding must reinvest in their own municipal recycling efforts.
This year, 278 communities qualified for the Recycling Dividends Program. They will receive a total of $34 million in funding.
Other grant awards include funding to 16 municipalities to create a Reuse Swap Shop to encourage reuse of durable household goods; grants to purchase Universal Waste Sheds by 13 communities for the collecting mercury-bearing items; grants for the curbside collection of food waste to 4 municipalities; and funding to one municipality to start a Pay-As-You-Throw waste reduction program. In that program, residents will purchase pre-printed bags, stickers, or tags for trash disposal to pay directly for the waste generated.
