The 16th annual Recycling Awards acknowledge individuals and organizations for outstanding contributions to recycling and waste reduction in Massachusetts.
Donovan’s outreach skills and many hours of hands-on work have kept tons of recyclable and compostable materials out of landfills and incinerators.
She established the recycling and organics program at the Franklin County Fair, which recycled 1 ton of bottles, cans, and containers, and composted 1 ton of food and paper waste this year. She created the Shelburne Falls Compost Collaborative, which enables seven local businesses to send source-separated food and paper waste to a composting facility, and she set up organics collection programs at four municipal transfer stations.
In addition, Donovan has assisted 30 public schools and numerous private schools with recycling, composting, and waste reduction, and she contributed to Springfield Materials Recycling Facility’s annual “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’’ guide. She frequently shares her knowledge at local and regional recycling conferences and workshops.
Donovan and other recipients of MassRecycle’s awards have established model programs that demonstrate the possibility for significant waste reduction and the potential for a sustainable world.
The Franklin County Solid Waste Management District assists 22 member towns with trash, recycling, compost, and hazardous waste.
“It helps those towns save money and deal with residents’ hazardous waste, and explores innovative waste diversion techniques such as commercial composting,’’ said Donovan, who designs and writes for the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’’ Earth Day newspaper insert that details recycling, composting, and disposal options for western Massachusetts.
“Methane coming from food and paper waste in landfills greatly contributes to climate change, and when we compost our food and paper waste we are slowing climate change,’’ she said.
