Several area communities are receiving state grant money from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for recycling programs. In total, $45,000 in state grant money is being awarded. The funding is being used to enhance local waste reduction, reuse, and recycling programs.
Bridgewater is receiving about $3,000 for a pilot program. The town is the first municipality to have a curbside organics collection program. DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain says the pilot program has been running for 16 months.
Residents can put out food and yard waste in containers that get picked up separately from trash and recyclable materials. Schain says organic materials make up about a third of the waste stream, and could be used for other purposes so it doesn't pay to be treated like solid waste.
The towns of Salisbury and Sharon are sharing a nearly $7,000 grant for a school recycling and composting program.
DEEP has a goal of reducing the volume of trash that must be disposed of by doubling the state’s recycling rate to 60% by 2024. The agency also wants to reclaim more materials of value from the waste stream.
