SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The grants, totalling $157,635, from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Sustainable Materials Recovery Program, are expected to provide big boost to waste reduction and recycling efforts in towns across Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.

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Out of the above total, a sum of $101,400 was awarded to 19 towns involved in the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District. $134,435 was awarded across Franklin County, including the towns not in the solid waste district. The remaining $23,200 was awarded to the North Quabbin communities of Athol, Petersham, Phillipston and Royalston.

Announcing the grants, Gov. Charlie Baker expressed the hope that the funding will ensure that local officials, residents and small business owners can adopt practices that protect Massachusetts’s environment and natural resources. The main advantage of the grants is that they do not expire, thus allowing towns to accumulate them, so that they could be utilized towards some larger projects later, he noted.

The Sustainable Materials Recovery Program grant program, established under the Green Communities Act of 2008, has provided more than $50 million in recycling grants since 2010.