Berkshire Communities Awarded Recycling, Waste Reduction Grants

10:40AM / Tuesday, December 31, 2024Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced more than $4 million in Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) grants to 285 municipalities and regional solid waste districts, that will help communities maximize their recycling, composting and waste reduction programs.

"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."

In Berkshire County:

Pay-As-You-Throw Program Start-up Funds

Monterey $ 2,700.00

Recycling Dividends Program

Adams $ 4,550.00
Cheshire $ 4,200.00
Dalton $ 4,900.00
Egremont $ 4,550.00
Florida $ 1,960.00
Great Barrington $ 1,225.00
Hancock $ 1,470.00
Hinsdale $ 4,550.00
Lee $ 1,960.00
Monterey $ 1,225.00
New Marlborough $ 1,470.00
Otis $ 1,225.00
Peru $ 4,200.00
Pittsfield $ 17,500.00
Sandisfield $ 1,225.00
Savoy $ 5,250.00
Sheffield $ 4,550.00
Stockbridge $ 1,470.00
Washington $ 735.00
Williamstown $ 4,900.00

Regional Small-Scale Initiatives

Northern Berkshires Solid Waste Management District (NBSWMD) $ 1,500.00

Shed or Equipment for Reuse Swap Shop

Dalton $ 6,000.00
New Marlborough $ 6,000.00
Peru $ 6,000.00
Savoy $ 6,000.00

Shed for Universal Waste

Stockbridge $ 5,000.00

MassDEP's SMRP Program provides funding for recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction activities that will reduce the amount of waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators. Waste prevention and recycling reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing the embodied energy in everyday products and packaging waste and converting it into new products. More than $60 million has been awarded through the program since 2010.

This year, 278 communities qualified for the Recycling Dividends Program and will receive funding totaling more than $3 million. This program recognizes municipalities that have implemented policies and programs proven to maximize materials reuse and recycling, as well as waste reduction. Communities receiving funding must reinvest in their own municipal recycling efforts. Under the program, 12 municipalities are being awarded grants of more than $50,000: Attleboro, Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Fall River, Lowell, New Bedford, Newton, Quincy, Springfield, Taunton and Worcester.

Additional grant funds are being awarded to support start-up incentives for Pay-As-You-Throw programs, containers to direct mattresses to recycling facilities, wheeled carts for curbside collection of food waste, equipment for the collection of mercury-bearing items, and regional small-scale initiatives.

Tags: recycling,

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Neal Tours Berkshire Innovation Center as Pittsfield's Tech Economy Grows

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:38PM / Thursday, October 15, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. —Congressman Richard Neal visited the Berkshire Innovation Center Thursday to highlight $735,000 in federal funding secured for a new cybersecurity training and testing facility.

"The number one job of the federal government is to provide for the security of its people. I mean, we should never lose sight of that, whether it's China or Russia, every single day there are these belligerents that are attempting to infiltrate national security here in the United States, and we should not be naive about it," Neal said. "I mean, we can have an argument about proportionality; we can do a lot of different things, but not to miss the point of what they're trying to do every day."

The new cybersecurity facility will provide regional manufacturers and businesses with research and design equipment, specialized lab space, and training facilities and is planned to be housed in a to-be-redeveloped space across the street from the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC), located at 45 Woodlawn Ave.

The derelict property, formerly owned by General Electric, is now known as the William Stanley Business Park.

The project is a $7.2 million dollar investment from the state, $5.2 million from the tech collaborative, $2 million from bond funding secured by Neal, and $1 million that will be split into two phases: $500,000 for BIC to begin building and $500,000 for Myrias Optics to start production in Pittsfield, said Mayor Peter Marchetti.

BIC Executive Director Ben Sosne said manufacturers often highlight the need for help with cybersecurity, particularly in meeting the security requirements necessary to conduct business with General Dynamics and other major contractors.

Collaborators in the field and the public sector have recognized the need that has only grown since technology has advanced and is a great career opportunity, Sosne said.

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