DEP announces 10-year contract with Springfield Materials Recycling Facility
Nearly one billion pounds of recyclables, $7 million payment for communities results

Massachusetts— Nearly one billion pounds of recyclables will be diverted from landfills and incinerators and more than $7 million will be paid to 78 western Massachusetts communities under a new 10-year contract that continues the operation of the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility (MRF).

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has entered into a new operators contract with Recycle America Alliance (RAA), a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., for the operation of the Springfield MRF, located at 84 Birnie Avenue. Seventy-eight western Massachusetts’ communities also executed agreements with DEP and RAA to deliver their municipal recyclables to the MRF.

“The Materials Recycling Facility in Springfield is an excellent illustration of how state government, municipalities and private businesses can join together to promote recycling through economic incentives,” DEP commissioner Robert W. Golledge, Jr. said during a press conference at the MRF. “Together, over the next decade, we will divert nearly 500,000 tons of waste from our landfills and incinerators and have provided a way for participating municipalities to fund a variety of recycling programs.”

The contracts began April 1, 2005 and will continue until June 30, 2015. The payment terms for participating communities includes a flat payment of $15.67 for each ton of recyclables delivered to the Springfield MRF. Additionally, communities will receive a revenue share from the sale of recyclables if the average dollar per ton exceeds $40.

RAA will sell all of the processed paper to the Newark Group’s recycled paperboard mill in Fitchburg to use in their production of laminated chipboard for the game board and book board industries. RAA is also implementing some community-based initiatives for MRF municipalities. They will provide funding for a neighborhood clean up effort in the City of Springfield’s North End, as well as a scholarship for a western Massachusetts student majoring in environmental studies.

The Springfield MRF Advisory Board also presented three awards to local outstanding recyclers. The awards were given to: City of Springfield Police Department for their increased participation; Arthur Cohen of the Franklin County Solid Waste District Board for his 20-year commitment to local recycling; and the custodial staff at the Agawam Public Schools for their participation in the Go Green Initiative.