Greenfield awarded $2.05-million for recycling program

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)– The City of Greenfield has received a $2.05 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for recycling infrastructure improvements.

The money will be used for upgrading the recycling processing from manual sorting to a fully automated recycling collection method, improving efficiency and safety for employees. This includes the purchase of new recycling management vehicles to replace the older vehicles.

Additionally, the City will be issuing new collection carts city-wide. The larger carts will be able to hold up to five times more recyclable materials with the inclusion of lids for the new carts reducing the potential for litter. The new carts will be integrated at no expense to residents.

Greenfield is among 25 applicants who received grant awards from over 330 applications submitted nationwide, and the only grant recipient in New England. The funds are from the EPA’s newly established Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant program, known as SWIFR.

“We are honored to be chosen as a Massachusetts recipient of this outstanding grant and grateful to the EPA and Biden Administration for selecting Greenfield,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner. “We are a small city that has made a commitment over the last two decades to focus on sustainability. Our recycling program is a linchpin in those sustainability and energy efficiency efforts. The opportunity to upgrade our whole recycling program from manual to automated has major financial benefits for our city from potentially fewer injuries to our staff, fuel use savings with new trucks, to significant upgrades to the existing processing area at the transfer station.”

“This grant is a home run for the city,” said DPW Director Marlo Warner. “I am very grateful to the EPA for this grant. From an operations perspective, it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve our operations and efficiency. I also want to thank Grant Writer Athena Bradley for working with the DPW team to help us submit a comprehensive grant application.”

The project is expected to cost approximately $2.94 million and the city will allocate capital and general funds to finance the remaining estimate of $880,000 before receiving a grant match from the EPA. The change over is expected to take at least one year.