Market
Development Programs in Massachusetts
Technical/Business
Assistance
Chelsea Center
for Recycling and Economic Development
The Chelsea Center works on the demand-side of recycling loop. It provides assistance
to manufacturers who are located in, or wish to locate in, Massachusetts, who utilize, or
would like to utilize recyclables. The Chelsea Center also provides information to other
public and non-profit service providers about the recycling industry. Programs and
services include:
- Research and
Development: sponsor college and university research to increase demand for recyclables
- Technical Assistance:
to manufacturers to incorporate recovered feedstocks in new or existing product lines
- Product and Material
testing: work with university researchers to test recyclable materials and recycled
products
- Business Assistance:
business plan review, siting assistance, feedstock sourcing, referrals to state agencies
- Student
intern program: matching up students and manufacturers
- Pilot Purchase: with
Operational Services Division, identify local manufacturers for pilot purchase program
- Workshops: to educate
manufacturers and other state service providers about recycling and recycling business
development
- Marketing: market
Massachusetts recycled product manufacturers through a number of efforts, including the Directory of Recycled Products Manufacturers,
sponsoring trade-show exhibition fees, etc
- Community Economic
Development: working with communities to identify ways to turn their local waste
into local resources.
For a complete
listing of the Chelsea Centers Programs and Services, click here.
The Chelsea Center
is part of the University of Massachusetts, and is
funded primarily by the Strategic Envirotechnology
Partnership and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs & the Clean
Environment Fund which is comprised of unredeemed bottle deposits. Contact:
617-887-2300.
Universities
Various campus research centers can:
- determine properties
of certain scrap materials
- make recommendations
on product/process improvements and feedstock choices
- test products
- provide business
planning assistance
Contact Alan Moore at the Chelsea Center for more
information, 617-884-4324.
Financial
Assistance
Recycling Loan
Fund
The RLF was created to increase access to capital for the recycling industry,
including collection or separation of recyclables; reuse, processing, or converting
recyclables into marketable products; and manufacturing end-products that use a
significant percentage of recyclables. The RLF:
- Provides direct loans
and helps qualifying businesses gain easier access to bank funds. It is intended to be
used in conjunction with other state and federal loan programs or credit enhancements.
- Loans range in size
from $50,000 to $300,000, and are priced according to risk.
- Eligible businesses
must be unable to obtain complete financing from conventional sources, and conduct
business in Massachusetts.
The RLF is
administered by the Massachusetts Business Development Corporation (MassBusiness) and funded by the Executive Office of
Environmental Affairs and the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), with Clean Environment Fund money. Since its
inception, the Recycling Loan Fund has awarded twelve loans, totaling $1.825 million, and
has leveraged $7.85 million in public and private financing. Contact Carol Fliet,
617-350-8877.
Recycling Venture
Forum
The Recycling Venture Forum is run by the Northeast
Recycling Council (NERC), and moves between the southern and northern parts of the
northeast every year. The Forum:
- Provides
opportunities for recycling businesses in the Northeast that are looking for funding to
make presentations to lenders and potential investors.
Several
Massachusetts companies have participated in the Forum over the past three years. The Department of Environmental Protection and Chelsea
Center provide support to the Venture Forum. Contact Mary Anne Remolador, 802-254-3636.
Recycling
Industries Reimbursement Credit
In fiscal year 1998, the legislature created the Reimbursement Credit to address
technical and economic barriers of using difficult to recycle materials. This is a grant
program that is managed by the DEP.
- Grants are provided
to Massachusetts processors of recyclable material and manufacturers that use recycled
feedstock, in order to stimulate activity in targeted recycling markets
- Targeted commodities
include aseptic containers, electronics, glass aggregate, paint, plastics #’s 3-7,
and tires, in which recycled products need an initial boost to compete with virgin
products.
- Incentives of up to
$50,000 are available for companies to either establish or expand their use or processing
of recycled feedstocks through increased use of secondary feedstock, capital investments,
equipment leasing, batch and process testing research and development, and sales.
Contact Stephen
Long, Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection, 617-292-5734.
Procurement
Recycled Product
Purchasing by Public Agencies
The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs funds two staff-people at the
State’s Operational Services Division, the
purchasing arm of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, to:
- Promote the purchase
of environmentally preferable products, including those with recycled content, to public
agencies throughout the Commonwealth
- Run a pilot purchase
program, identifying recycled products to target for purchase and testing.
- Operate a web site,
create vendor guides and product fact sheets, hold workshops, and sponsor an annual vendor
fair to introduce public agencies and businesses to the range of recycled products
available.
State purchases of
recycled and remanufactured products increased from $2.8 million in FY 92 to $35.2 million
in FY 98. There are recycled and environmentally preferable product purchasing agents in
other agencies, such as the University of Massachusetts and MassHighway. These programs
are not specifically geared to Massachusetts manufacturers.
Contact Marcia
Deegler at OSD, 617-727-7500.
Buy Recycled
Business Alliance
WasteCap of Massachusetts and the Center for Ecological Technology coordinate this
program. The BRBA:
- Provides technical
assistance in the form of manuals, directories, fact sheets, workshops, and a hotline to
businesses to increase their purchases of recycled products.
Contact WasteCap, 617-236-7715.
Incentives
MRIP Conditions
The Municipal Recycling Incentive Program (MRIP) is a new program whereby
municipalities receive payments for each ton of materials they recycle, if they meet
certain conditions, including:
- Establishment of
municipal recycled product purchasing policy, as well as a tracking and reporting system.
Funding for MRIP is
from the Clean Environment Fund, through the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs,
and is run by the Department of Environmental
Protection. Contact Joseph Lambert, 617-574-6875
Recycling
Equipment and Consumer Education Grant Conditions
The Recycling Equipment and Consumer Education Grant program funds municipalities
purchasing recycling equipment and public education materials. Eligibility requirements
include:
- Adoption of municipal
Buy Recycled purchasing policy
This program is run
by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Contact Peggy Harlow, 617-292-5861.
  
Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development
80 Everett Ave., Suite 221, Chelsea, MA 02150
Tel: (617) 887-2300 Fax: (617) 887-0399
Email: info@chelseacenter.org
|
