• Recycler of the Year:  
• Leadership Award:
• Large Municipality Recycling Award:
• Small Municipality Recycling Award:
• School Recycling Award:   
• Business Recycling Award:  
• Recycling Business Award:   
• Food Establishment - Restaurant: 
• Food Establishment - Supermarket:
• Food Establishment - Supermarket:
• Institution/Nonprofit Award:  

Gretel Clark, Chair, Hamilton Recycling Committee

Eric Magers, Teacher, Manchester Essex School District

City of Malden

Town of Dedham

Manchester Essex Green Team

Raytheon, Waltham

Pedal People, Northampton

Taranta, Boston’s North End

Big Y, Western MA

Hannaford Bros., Eastern MA

Island Creek Oysters & Sustainable Duxbury, Duxbury

Recycler of the Year – Gretel Clark, Hamilton Recycling Committee Chair

Gretel Clark exemplifies the kind of volunteer every city or town would like to have.  She created successful programs, not just in her own town but also in neighboring towns.  As chair of the first Recycling Committee in Hamilton, she and the Committee spearheaded the successful "Waste Reduction Program" in Hamilton, successfully reducing the Town's solid waste by over 30% and saving over $100,000.  She helped neighboring Wenham implement the same program.  Additional neighbors, Ipswich and Manchester have followed a similar route.  

With a cup of tea and a smile, she single-handedly answers the "Recycling Hotline" for both Hamilton and Wenham, winning over many skeptics.  Most recently, she has initiated an innovative curbside collection program for organic wastes that is eagerly being watched by waste professionals around the country.  On the side, she also has helped local organizations figure out how to recycle and/or convert to "zero-waste" events.  Tireless, dedicated, and always gracious, she has succeeded in gently making significant positive changes that are being replicated in the region and watched around the country.

Leadership Award: Eric Magers, Teacher, Manchester Essex Regional School District

Mass Recycle is proud to award Eric Magers the Leadership Award for his “demonstrated depth of conviction and commitment" including the founding the Manchester Essex Regional School District Green Team in 2007. In addition to full time teaching and coaching Magers has inspired “green thinking” in this 1400 student north shore school district. Magers’ leadership attributes include an unflagging energy and commitment, and in the words of Manchester’s Green Scholars Apprenticeship Director Mary Rerisi, the ability to “cultivate the student voice and work hard to lead by example.” Magers facilitates the growth of leadership qualities in others by encouraging autonomy in the pursuit of their own passions. With his “uplifting” leadership the Manchester Essex Green team has created a comprehensive model of green initiatives.

The team’s accomplishments include the reduction of cafeteria waste by over 95% and the swelling of Green Team membership to over 140 participants in just three years. The variety of ‘green’ programs includes compostable serving ware, a lunchroom composting station, an edible schoolyard and a collection center for electronic and IT recyclables. 

Large Municipality: City of Malden, Malden, MA. The Large Municipality Recycling Award is awarded to the City of Malden for its display of political leadership and courage in implementing a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) waste management system. Mayor Richard C. Howard and seven selectmen voted in PAYT against a sizable public outcry. Between June and October 2008 the town introduced the new requirements through public education and outreach which advertised the Mayor?s proposal as a means to balance the FY0 $130 million budget. In November 2009 the program survived a referendum organized to topple it and today the program has a 98% compliance rate.

The city receives an additional $2.5 million annually and serves 17,783 households. The success of the program, according to the administration, is because residents pay their fair share of a city service and control their costs through recycling. Year one saw trash tonnage drop 49% and recycling tonnage increase 74%. Additionally, the city has become a statewide and national model for programs serving diverse communities.

Small Municipality: Town of Dedham, Dedham, MA
The Town of Dedham has received the Small Municipality Recycling Award for its success in
doubling it?s recycling tonnage, The year-long Education and Outreach program, affectionately
referred to as Dedham?s ?Traveling Side Show,? was a key support in the transition to single stream. Each town precinct was visited by a team of officials whose role it was to educate and facilitate the transition. A comprehensive Recycling and Trash Guide was made available to all residents. The town reduced household trash receptacles from five to one and gave every resident a larger recycling toter than trash bin. Additional incentives included charging a fee for a second trash bin, further motivating residents to recycle. . Town officials estimate that the program reduced trash by 4,000 tons and doubled recycling from 12 tons to 25.29 tons in the first seven months of 2009. In addition, the town saw a $400,000 savings by increasing recycling.

School Award: Manchester Essex Green Team, Manchester, MA. MassRecycle is proud to present the School Recycling Award to the Manchester Essex Regional School District Green Team for engendering ?Green Thinking? in the school and for a range of successful programs which engaged the entire school community. Some of the major initiatives the Green Team has developed include a reduction of cafeteria waste by 95%.through the introduction of a food waste composting program and the creation of an innovative recycling/composting station called the ?Lucidomatic; conversion of cafeteria service ware to compostable dishes & reusable metal silverware; Recycling of paper and bottles and cans in all classrooms and offices throughout the middle and high school; a paper reuse system and double-sided printing protocols to reduce paper use; raised planting beds and rain barrel collection system for an edible schoolyard which provides food for student lunches; Conversion to green cleaning products throughout the school district; a collection center for batteries, electronics, printer cartridges, clothes, books and supplies

Institution/Nonprofit Award: Island Oyster Festival and Sustainable Duxbury, Duxbury, MA MassRecycle is proud to present the Institution Recycling Award to the Island Creek Oyster Foundation (ICO) and Sustainable Duxbury for their remarkable cooperative effort in making the annual Duxbury Oyster Festival a successful ?zero waste? event by recycling and composting approximately 95% of their waste. The festival, which showcases fifteen chefs serving food and drinks to a crowd of 3500, produced only 5% trash. 80% of the waste was composted and 15% recycled. All drinks were served in compostable cups. Reusable stations, serving water ?straight from Duxbury? and constructed by ICO, eliminated all need for bottled water. All food was served with compostable plates, cups, flatware and napkins and composted with food waste. 40,000 oyster shells (7,000 lbs) were contributed to the New Hampshire Jackson Estuarine Laboratory Project to help restore oyster habitat. Fifty volunteers of all age-groups helped to educate attendees about the recycling and composting throughout the event. And another 50 helped with hauling and event cleanup the next day.

Business Award: Raytheon Company, Tewksbury, MA
MassRecycle is proud to present the Business Award to Raytheon where leadership and innovation in waste management has lead to a remarkable reduction in waste. Raytheon's recycling program in Massachusetts focuses on six major locations. In 2009 alone, Raytheon achieved a record recycling rate of over 70% at these facilities. Key components of the program include a resource management agreement with E. L. Harvey starting in 2006 that led to the recycling of 3.095 tons of waste in 2009; A "zero waste" program in company cafeterias where all waste is recycled or composted - 158 tons of food waste were composted in 2009; An employee engagement program -- "Serving up Sustainability" -- which eliminated the use of polystyrene "Styrofoam" and promoted the use of reusable dining ware; Special Earth Day events at which employees in 2009 & 2010 recycled 138 tons of personal electronic scrap; and a Raytheon Sustainability program to engage employees in achieving a 25% trash reduction goal over five years. Raytheon?s has a history -- dating back 20 years -- to minimize pollution and waste, conserve natural resources, maximize reuse and recycling, and reduce our carbon footprint, and MassRecycle is proud to recognize Raytheon for their success.

Recycling Industry Award: Pedal People, Northampton, MA
MassRecycle is happy to present the Recycling Business Award to Pedal People, an eight year old worker-owned recycling and waste hauling business. Pedal People?s twelve cyclists use trailers propelled by bicycles providing curbside pickup of trash, recycling, and compost to 480 households, 37 businesses and 80 public barrels within the city of Northampton, MA. In 2007 Pedal People began offering food waste collection to existing customers at no additional cost, collecting an estimated 4,700 cubic feet of food waste used for local compost. In 2009 Pedal People collected an estimated 1,600 cu ft of food waste, 31,000 cu ft of paper, 27,000 cu ft of containers for recycling and 47,000 cu ft of trash.
Pedal People discourage waste through a volume based pricing structure. They encourage recycling and waste reduction through personal conversations with their customers. They deliver diapers for a cloth diaper service, and offer one month free of cloth diapers to existing customers using disposables.

Food Establishment Award - Restaurant: Restaurant - Taranta, Boston, MA
Taranta Restaurant, a North End restaurant featuring organic wines and produce, has been awarded MassRecycle?s Food Establishment Award for diverting 93% of its waste by composting all food scraps and recycling all comingled containers, mixed paper, cardboard and cooking oil. Combined with light bulb and battery recycling, the use of reusable bottled water containers, and hand dryers instead of paper towels, they produce only one ninety-five gallon cart of trash per week from their three level restaurant.

Food Establishment Award - Supermarket: Big Y Foods, Inc., Western MA
The Big Y Foods, Inc has been awarded the Food Establishment Award for their successful food waste composting and recycling program. In 2009 Big Y composted over 2100 tons of organic waste, recycled 13,213 tons of paper and cardboard and another 276 tons of film plastics. Big Y now has composting program in 25 of it?s stores. Discovering innovative markets has brought Big Y Foods into an association with the Ludlow Lupa Zoo which now receives non-sellable food from both the Big Y Ludlow and Palmer locations. Many film plastics used to ship and wrap food as well as plastic grocery bags has a market value and Big Y has worked extensively with the Center for Ecological Technology (CET) to unearth these markets. In 2009, the recycling of film plastics resulted in over 552,000 pounds of film plastics being manufactured into decking lumber. Big Y included composting as part of new store design and has a computer training program for all employees to ensure they understand proper composting and recycling procedures.

Food Establishment Award - Supermarket: Hannaford Brothers Company, Eastern MA
MassRecycle is proud to acknowledge Hannaford Food as the recipient of the Food Establishment Award for their comprehensive recycling and food diversion success. The 26 Massachusetts Hannaford stores have programs for recycling cardboard, plastic, paper and all food stuffs including food fat. All stores have recycling cardboard programs which partner with Enviro-log and send both corrugated and waxed corrugated material to be made into firelogs. Plastic recycling programs handle shrink wrap, rigid plastics, pharmacy bottles and shopping bags and over 25 tons of rigid plastics and over 200 tons of stretch plastics are recycled annually. Perhaps most innovative are Hannaford?s composting and food rendering programs. 1150 tons of food waste is diverted to composting programs annually. Additionally, most stores have rendering programs which take food fats and grease and generate over 250 tons annually. 2010 saw Hannaford roll out a new program where all associate uniforms will be made with 60% recycled materials partnering with Winter People of Freeport, Maine.