     |
Chelsea Center News and Events Chelsea Center sponsored a Roundtable on Rubber Recycling in Westborough, MA on June 23, 2003 Federal, State, local highway representatives and scrap tire industry leaders took part in the first New England Rubber Recycling Roundtable on June 23, 2003. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together leading policy, decision-makers and industry officials for a day long exchange of ideas and information. Specifically, scrap tire recycling to produce crumb rubber that can be utilized in rubberized pavement for New England was discussed. For a summary of the day, please click here. To contact SuperCool, a scrap tire recycling company who helped organize the Roundtable, please email Bob Shatten.Chelsea Center to Close on June 23, 2003 As some in the recycling community are already aware, the continued existence of the Chelsea Center has been a central issue for several months now. This period of struggle, serious consideration, and reflection has convinced us that the Chelsea Center no longer has the support required to continue its activities into the coming fiscal year. Despite a generous offer from the Chancellor of UMass Lowell to continue staff support through FY04 at half the FY03 rate, we have been unable to secure adequate additional public or private funding in order to maintain a meaningful program. For this reason, effective June 30, 2003, the Chelsea Center will close. This has not been an easy decision, but we believe it is the appropriate one. As a project of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at UMass Lowell, we anticipate that the web site, publications and library resources will be housed and supported there. As of July 1, 2003 inquiries related specifically to the Chelsea Center may be directed to Cathy Crumbley, Program Director, via telephone at 978-934-2980 or email to Cathy_Crumbley@uml.edu.. For matters pertaining both to broader as well as specific issues related to recycling market development programs and activities in Massachusetts, please contact Steve Long at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection via telephone at 617-292-5734 or email to Stephen.Long@state.ma.us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your contributions to the Chelsea Center over its nearly decade long existence. There have been many successes and accomplishments as well as lessons learned. We can only hope that a legacy will remain upon which to continue the efforts to create a sustainable materials economy in Massachusetts, where businesses will thrive that rely on locally discarded goods for their raw materials. May 15, 2003
Chelsea
Center Receives National Award A Massachusetts program that supports efforts by businesses and communities to reap economic benefits from recycling has been nationally recognized for its work. The Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development was presented with the National Recycling Coalition’s (NRC) Outstanding Market Development Award during the NRC’s annual meeting in Seattle last month. The award recognized the Chelsea Center for its comprehensive outreach, education and assistance services which support manufacturers, municipalities, community development corporations, non-profits organizations, university researchers and others in the development of markets for materials which would otherwise end up in our landfills. “Our efforts are pretty comprehensive, and I think that’s why we were singled out for this national honor,” said Amy Perlmutter, executive director of the Center, which is affiliated with the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and the Commonwealth’s STrategic Envirotechnology Partnership (STEP). “Most other recycling market development programs focus on either giving out technical grants, or sponsoring research, or providing direct assistance to businesses and communities. We do all of those things, plus a lot more. We try to promote recycling in Massachusetts, and especially the economic benefits of recycling, on every possible front.” “This award is significant because the judges are peers in the recycling industry,” said Lori Gummow, the NRC Awards Chairperson. “The Chelsea Center was put on a pedestal, placed there by peers in the industry who feel its programs are so outstanding, they deserve to be acknowledged nationally.” The Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development was created by the state legislature in 1995 with a mission to create jobs, support recycling efforts and help the economy and environment by increasing the use of recovered materials by Massachusetts manufacturers. It receives funding from the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’ Clean Environment Fund. Since it was founded, the Chelsea Center has assisted dozens of recycled product manufacturers by providing marketing and business development support, grants for research or product testing, interns for special projects, and assistance with new market development. The Center also has programs that work with communities, economic development corporations, university researchers and non-profit organizations, always with the aim of increasing the market for locally recycled materials as a means for boosting the local economy as well as reducing the demand for trash disposal facilities. According to Perlmutter, there are currently 1,400 large and small businesses in Massachusetts that are in some way connected with the recycling industry, either through manufacturing products made from recycled materials, or collecting and processing recycled materials. Those companies account for 20,000 jobs and more than $140 million in annual revenues for the state, she added. And, Massachusetts’ manufacturers use close to four million tons of recycled materials to make new products. For information about the NRC awards, contact Gummow at 815-637-1343 or see the NRC’s web site: www.nrc-recycle.org. *NOTE: Due to funding cuts, the Chelsea Center will NOT be providing funding for Trade Show Grants in FY03* The Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development had had grant money available to help Massachusetts’ manufacturers of recycled products reduce the cost of exhibiting at trade shows. It paid for no more than 50% of the total cost to exhibit per show, and no more than $500 per company, per year. Download the application by clicking
here. (you must have the Adobe reader to view
application) top Recycling Internship (ReTern) Program - 2002/2003 FUNDING FOR FY03 WAS EXTREMELY LIMITED!!! Attention Manufacturers! Do
you have a marketing, accounting or finance project that needs to get done but
hasn’t? The Chelsea Center may be able to help you. We are once again seeking projects for our recycling internship (ReTERN) program, where we match graduate and senior level undergraduate students with Massachusetts recycled product manufacturers. The ReTERN program is sponsored by the Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development, and funded by the Clean Environment Fund through the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
Please note: While it is our goal that appropriate matches are made between manufacturers and students, these matches are not always possible. |
