The US state of Massachusetts is supporting recyclers with grants totalling more than US$ 1.8 million (EUR 1.7 million).
The Recycling and Reuse Business Development Grant Program will help 21 businesses expand their collection and processing capabilities. Ten recyclers will receive US$ 565 000 for tackling anything from electronic scrap, construction and demolition waste, glass waste and used textiles to food waste and end-of-life mattresses.
Powerful strategy
Investing in waste diversion is a powerful and important strategy for a cleaner future, says state senator John Cronin. He underlines the grants are ‘a critical piece’ of the state’s long-term sustainability goals.
‘By supporting businesses and projects that extend material life and reduce new resource demand, Massachusetts is building a sustainable infrastructure that will significantly cut carbon emissions, equivalent to removing 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.’
Collection recipients:
- BINcentives (Worcester) – up to US$ 40 000
- Bootstrap Compost (Everett) – up to US$ 60 000
- Boston Area Gleaners (Acton) – up to US$ 60 000
- CERO Cooperative (Boston) – up to US$ 90 000
- Commonwealth Sustainability (Ludlow) – up to US$ 25 000
- Hartsprings Foundation (West Springfield) – up to US$ 60 000
- J&T Recycling dba Clothes Bin (Fall River) – up to US$ 50 000
- NEMA LLC (Boston) – up to US$ 80 000
- Spoonfuls (Newton) – up to US$ 50 000
- Tommy’s Compost Service (Cheshire) – up to US$50 000
Processing recipients:
- 2M Resources (Hopedale) – up to US$ 200 000
- American Retroworks, Good Point Recycling (Brockton) – up to US$70 000
- Bay State Textiles (Kingston) – up to US$ 150 000
- Boston Building Materials Co-op (Boston) – up to US$ 60 000
- Dream Green Recycling of the Berkshires (Adams) – up to US$ 150 000
- Recirclable (Arlington) – up to US$ 70 000
- Recolor Paints (Hanover) – up to US$ 33 000
- Re:Dish (Hyde Park) – up to US$ 150 000
- Second Chance Composting (Cheshire) – up to US$ 100 000
- Smart Feed Tech dba Bright Feeds (Oxford) – up to US$ 80 000
- Tough Stuff Recycling (Fitchburg) – up to US$ 200 000
Sunny market
Robin Inghentron, owner of American Retroworks, is using the grant towards a blockchain GPS tracking system by which mobile phones scan a QR code and provide a geotag for every photo of recycled materials.
Ingenthron believes this will be especially useful for the growing solar panel market. He thinks blockchain may help to prove that every used solar panel exported to Africa is being used for many years or recycled, rather than being scrapped or, worse, dumped. He hopes data-driven technology will ensure Africa’s tech sector will never again be defined by ‘primary school dropouts burning tyres’.
‘Most of the cost of commercial solar fields in Western countries is the permitting, siting and land acquisition,’ Ingenthron says. ‘The fields of 200kw panels we see in New England are an opportunity to double the generation of those sunk costs. Reusing them in Africa makes way more sense – there’s more sunshine after all – than grinding them up.’
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