June 2021

January 1, 2021

New & Renewing Members

New Supporting Members

Renewing Sustaining Member

Renewing Supporting Member


State Updates


MassDEP 2020 Municipal Recycling & Solid Waste Survey Data Now Online

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has posted the first round of 2020 Municipal Recycling and Solid Waste Survey data online at https://www.mass.gov/lists/recycling-solid-waste-data-for-massachusetts-cities-towns. This information is reported by municipalities on a yearly basis and includes annual trash and recycling tonnages, solid waste program and service descriptions, waste reduction elements and types of recyclables, difficult to manage and hazardous materials collected, and more. Note: When you open the spreadsheet file, there is a sheet titled “Read Me” that provides descriptions of each data field in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet includes data from municipalities that submitted their reports by February 15, 2021. Municipalities are required to submit their 2019 and 2020 data through the online platform Re-TRAC Connect™ in order to be eligible for Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) grants.


MassDEP’s Sustainable Materials Recovery Program Grant Awards Announced 

On May 6, 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $1.3 million in Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) grants to 34 municipalities and regional districts to increase the diversion, reuse, composting and recycling of materials in the solid waste stream. This is the second round of awards through the SMRP, which was created under the Green Communities Act and is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). An alphabetical list of the city, town, regional group or non-profit that has been awarded, as well as additional grant information can be found on our SMRP program webpage.


Recycle Smart MA reaches 28,000 Followers

MassDEP continues to work to get the word out about what items should and should not be placed in recycling bins through our Recycle Smart MA (RSMA) program. You can read our most recent newsletter, “It’s in the bag…” here, or view our archive. And, if you would like to help get the word out about how to reduce contamination and improve the quality of our recyclables, you can sign up as a Recycle Smart MA partner here. Follow RSMA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and please feel free to share our content!


MassDEP-hosted Home Composting Webinar Available on YouTube

In honor of Earth Day, MassDEP’s composting guru Ann McGovern hosted a home composting webinar for general audiences. The webinar, titled “Home Composting for Zero Waste (Everything You Wanted to Know about Composting but Were Afraid to Ask),” was well attended and Ann answered dozens of audience questions related to home composting. The webinar was recorded and can be found on MassDEP’s YouTube channel:​ https://youtu.be/Sd3dE3ZHSVo. The video has a few technical glitches in the beginning (till about the 6 minute mark) but stick with it because it becomes more pleasant to watch and it is very informative. It ends with an original compost song. 


MassDEP Implements Minimum Performance Standard for Construction & Demolition (C&D) Handling Facilities 

MassDEP is continuing to work with our C&D Handling Facilities – processors and transfer stations – to implement our Minimum Performance Standard (MPS) for waste ban compliance by these facilities. Implementation of the MPS will ensure a level playing field that will result in consistent separation of C&D materials across the industry. For more information, please visit this Mass DEP web page as well as a frequently asked questions document. 


RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts Compost Training 

The RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts program provided a training workshop for compost site operators in April. The presentation, training materials, and a recording of the workshop are available online here. Scroll down to Compost Site Operator Workshops to view these materials, as well as materials from past workshops.


Upcoming Webinar: Green Your Bottom Line in Food & Beverage Businesses

RecycingWorks in MA, in collaboration with the UMass Amherst Center for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Companies (CEERE), will be hosting a free webinar on the topic of preventing, rescuing, and diverting food waste on June 18 (1pm-2pm). In this hour-long webinar, RecyclingWorks will share program information and resources with food manufacturers and distributors, and make connections to facilitate further food donation activity between food recovery organizations.


Companies that manufacture or process food and beverages are increasingly important to the New England economy. While products and facility size vary, they all use and pay for energy, water, chemicals (cleaning products or others) and waste management. Reducing these costs can help to sustain and expand a business, while ensuring that products are safe for consumption.

Green Your Bottom Line is an initiative to support food and beverage businesses in making improvements to their facilities and processes, which will benefit both their businesses and the environment.


For more information, please visit Green Your Bottom Line.


DEC & SUNY ESF Partner to Improve Recycling Quality Statewide

The New York State Center for Sustainable Materials Management (NYS Center for SMM), based at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), launched a first-of-its-kind statewide recycling website to address residential recycling confusion and contamination across the State. Visitors to RecycleRightNY.org will learn about the value of everyday materials and why it is important to recycle correctly.


The Recycle Right NY campaign was originally launched by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) after a series of recycling stakeholder meetings in 2018 to jump start discussion aimed at addressing challenges facing New York's recycling system. Campaign management was transitioned to the Syracuse University Center for Sustainable Community Solutions (SU-CSCS), a core partner with the NYS Center for SMM. The SU-CSCS team worked with more than 100 New York state recycling professionals to further build out this important resource.


The Recycle Right NY site features new resources such as a search tool to help visitors easily find their local recycling guidelines, as well as a "Recyclopedia" - an encyclopedia for recycling - that will provide waste reduction, reuse, and recycling tips for more than 300 common household items. Together, these resources will help residents to learn more about what is and is not recyclable, and how best to reduce, reuse, and recycle in their communities.


"So many people ask me: Can any item with the recycling symbol on it be recycled? Recycling can be confusing and often leads residents to "wish-cycle," or optimistically place items in their recycling bin even if it is not an acceptable recyclable item. Meanwhile, municipalities face complex challenges to properly collect, sort, and market clean recyclable materials. I am thrilled that the Recycle Right NY effort will reduce contamination of recycling streams across the State by offering direct support to community leaders on how their residents can improve their recycling habits," said Gary Carrel, NYS Association for Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling (NYSAR3) Board President and Erie County Solid Waste Recycling Specialist.


"Our goal is to make recycling easy to understand and simple to do. We hope to shift the perception of used materials as 'waste to be discarded' to 'resources to be recovered '", said Melissa Young, Assistant Director for Syracuse University's Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, "Beyond recycling, we hope to inspire and empower New Yorkers to reduce and reuse items when possible, which will greatly aid us in our journey to becoming the lowest waste producing state in the country."


In addition to the new recycling website, the Recycle Right NY campaign has launched its own social media pages and e-newsletter, and will develop new educational resources such as short videos, a resource locator map, and much more.

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Maryland webinar gives tips on countering misinformation

By Antoinette Smith • April 1, 2025
In recent years, the recycling industry has seen negative media coverage that has not only perpetuated myths but also contributed to public mistrust of collection and recycling – and ultimately could be contributing to lower collection rates. To help counteract the misinformation, the Maryland Recycling Network presented a March 27 webinar featuring Gretchen Carey, president at MassRecycle, and Chaz Miller of Miller Recycling Associates. Misinformation about recycling was merely “background noise” to Carey until October 2022, when Greenpeace published a scathing report about the failings of plastic recycling. Soon NPR and The Boston Globe picked up the story and compounded the issue with statements like “not even plastic water bottles are recyclable,” Carey said, calling this “a patent lie.” Carey and her colleagues were “crushed,” but after overcoming her initial anger, she reached out to NPR and the Globe to rebut the story. She also tried to get other local publications to publish her written response to the negative coverage but was rebuffed. Seeing that these efforts weren’t going far, MassRecycle invited members of the media and the general public on MRF tours at several sites in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Providing real-time evidence of recycling infrastructure helped industry outsiders step out of the echo chamber and hear a contrasting perspective, Carey said in the webinar. “You can talk the game, but them seeing for themselves is the important part,” she explained. During the tours, the public attendees learned that throwing away recyclables deprives the community of valuable commodities, she said, and that state guidelines restrict what can be put in the landfill. Carey added that the tours brought home the message by explaining that recycled materials need a consistent end market to justify collection and processing. For example, Ardagh closed its glass bottling facility in Massachusetts in 2018. The closure eliminated a key end market for recycled glass and caused collector Strategic Materials to stop taking local recovered glass. Local MRFs subsequently lost that revenue stream. When residents don’t trust recycling infrastructure, they put fewer items in their curbside bins, and ultimately paper, metals and glass wind up as collateral damage, Miller said. So it’s vital to make sure the public knows where their recyclables and that end markets exist to use these materials. Read the full article.

City of Laurel

By Sophie Leone • March 26, 2025
The City of Laurel, Maryland, established in 1870, has a deep and rich history within the state. Its long-standing independence and stability have fostered a strong sense of community, providing residents with valuable resources and support. Laurel is deeply committed to sustainability, embedding green initiatives into its core values, creating a Sustainability Division and completing the City’s first Sustainability Plan as one of many ways to support a sustainable Laurel community. The city’s mission is guided by four foundational pillars: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. Laurel defines sustainability as “meeting the environmental, social, and economic needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Residents can engage with their community in numerous ways, including joining local clubs, participating in municipal committees, and taking part in community surveys. The city also hosts in-person events such as parades, farmers markets, and sustainability initiatives, further strengthening community bonds. To make waste management, recycling and organics recycling more accessible, Laurel provides detailed information on its dedicated Green Living Resource page found on the City’s website and partners with Recycle Coach, an app that helps residents easily access tailored information on residential collections, recycling and organics recycling. The Recycle Coach app also notifies residents of changes to their service days and special sustainability events. The City of Laurel continues to lead by example in sustainability and community engagement. As environmentalist Wendell Berry once said, “The Earth is what we all have in common.” Laurel’s dedication to green living ensures that future generations will inherit a thriving, sustainable community. NERC is thrilled to welcome the City of Laurel to our growing list of municipality members. We look forward to working with them to help advance our collective missions in safeguarding the planet. For more information on the City of Laurel visit.

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