BERNARDSTON — Because of its recycling efforts, Bernardston was awarded $2,500 in grants through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Sustainable Materials Recovery Program earlier this month.
Bernardston regularly receives a $500 Small Scale Initiative grant, which Janice Ameen, executive director of the Solid Waste District, said the majority of towns in Franklin County are eligible to receive. However, this year, the town also received a $2,000 grant through the Recycling Dividends Program.
Towns receive points for their recycling measures and are granted money based on the number of points they receive. Ameen said Bernardston received 10 points for its Pay-As-You-Throw program, participating in hazardous and bulky waste collection, collecting textiles in a Salvation Army donation box and for its arrangement to bring items like automotive waste and mattresses to the Greenfield Transfer Station.
“The (Department of Environmental Protection) likes the high rate of recycling in Bernardston,” Town Coordinator Hugh Campbell said.
According to Ameen, Bernardston also received a $1,400 Recycling Dividends Program grant last fiscal year, which it has yet to spend, bringing the total grant money earned through the program to $3,400.
The Small Scale Initiative grant is typically used to buy recycling bins, compost bins and signs for the town’s transfer station, which is what Campbell said Bernardston has done in the past. Ameen said Recycling Dividends Program grants can be used for similar ventures, to make improvements at the transfer station or to operate composting or electronic recycling programs. A town can also make a request to the Department of Environmental Protection to seek approval for other uses, Ameen said.
Ameen said the 22 communities in the Solid Waste District were awarded more than $11,000 in all in Small Scale Initiative grants, and 16 towns were awarded nearly $37,000 through the Recycling Dividends Program this year. Two other North County towns, Warwick and Northfield, each received a $500 Small Scale Initiative grant and Recycling Dividends Program grants for $1,600 and $2,400, respectively.