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Recycling Works and Green Team report assistance metrics, new BMP for reusables and website overhaul
Summary
CET and MassDEP partners presented metrics: Recycling Works estimated nearly 1,800 tons diverted in FY24 from technical assistance and served about 200 businesses; the reusable foodware best-practice guidance will be unveiled Nov. 14; Green Team launched a mobile-friendly website and reached 359–370+ school teams restoring pre‑pandemic participation.
Steve Bandera, project manager for Recycling Works in Massachusetts (delivered under contract by CET), and Sonia Williams, Green Team program consultant, briefed the committee on FY24 accomplishments and near-term priorities.
Bandera said Recycling Works quantified nearly 1,800 tons diverted from disposal in FY24 from their assistance and served roughly 200 businesses with on-site and virtual technical assistance. He announced the reusable food-service best-practice (BMP) guidance — developed with MassDEP and stakeholders — will be unveiled at the Massachusetts Health Officers Association conference on Nov. 14 and posted to the program website that day.
"Each year, we quantify our impact by estimating the amount of weight that is diverted from disposal per year as a result of our assistance... this amounted to nearly 1800 tons of material diverted from disposal in FY24," Bandera said.
Sonia Williams described Green Team’s upgraded, mobile-friendly website and Salesforce integration to streamline school registration and support; the program reported more than 359 participating teams last year and already exceeded that this November with 370+ teams, reaching 55,000+ students and giving recycling/composting equipment to dozens of schools, including those in environmental-justice communities.
Bandera and Williams said priorities for the coming year include expanded outreach to environmental-justice communities, expanded food-waste reduction assistance, and continued support for school composting and district-wide registrations.
