Member Benefits

The South Shore Recycling Cooperative (SSRC) is a voluntary association of 18 South Shore towns. It was established in 1998 to help member towns improve their recycling, hazardous and solid waste programs, and reduce the amount, toxicity and cost of disposal.

The SSRC brings working knowledge of the most efficient systems available for managing municipal solid waste, access to regional vendor information, and economy of scale to further reduce costs. As a cohesive regional entity with dedicated staff, the SSRC influences policy and legislation that affects its members’ programs at the State level.

Materials Management

Less trash: Disposed trash tonnage in Member towns has dropped by 11% per household served since 2015, saving $900,000 in disposal costs at current rates.
Higher returns for recyclables: Textiles, cardboard, most plastics and metals have value. SSRC helps its Members get the most for these commodities, and pay a fair price for those with costs.
Household Hazardous Waste Collections : administrative and on site assistance and oversight, publicity, and the ability to send residents to twelve collections each year provides cost and staff time savings and convenience to member towns and their residents. Coordinating multi-town events spreads the costs out. HHW page
Special events : The SSRC coordinates curbside and drop-off collection events for materials such as mattresses, tires, and propane tanks.
Compost site management: Members have easy access to regional contracts for brush grinding, compost screening, material removal and information on best management practices.
Difficult to manage waste: The Staff provides assistance in managing and finding good service providers for difficult to manage waste for everything from mattresses and mercury to propane tanks and paint, electronic waste, medical sharps, tires, batteries,

Recycling Dividends Program Grants

Membership in SSRC qualifies Member Towns for 2 additional RDP Points, worth $400-$3500 each, depending on households served, thanks to our HHW Reciprocity program. Members may use up to $3000/year of RDP funds toward membership dues. Our outreach and technical support helps member towns earn additional points in other categories.

Public Outreach

Website – provides a wealth of resources for everything recycling including town and material-specific recycling, hazardous waste collection information, links to recycling and green websites, press releases, and a monthly newsletter
Resident Contacts – SSRC Staff fields hundreds of calls from residents each year. Distribution of 25,000 informational palm cards has increased phone and web traffic.
Community presentations – SSRC Staff provide waste prevention information in local media and at workshops and events. Video PSAs
Newsletter – published every 6 weeks, circ. 2,150, the South Shore Recycling News contains local, state and national recycling news. Newsletter page
Radio PSAs – each year the SSRC runs several ads produced by our steadfast partner WATD 95.9 fm

Technical Assistance and Networking

An on-call expert: The Executive Director advises members on vendor and program options, contracts, pricing, grant opportunities, etc. She gathers tonnage, fee and pricing data for program and year to year comparisons. She attends conferences, workshops and webinars, and shares what she learns with our members at meetings and in our monthly newsletter.
Networking opportunities: Our well-attended 6-weekly meetings feature area vendors, and provide the opportunity to discuss issues and program details with our solid waste managers.
Tours: The SSRC arranges and hosts facility tours at outlets for many of our materials.

Advocacy

MassDEP: The Executive Director attends policy meetings hosted by MassDEP, provides testimony on regulations, and acts as a liaison between our Members and State organizations.
The State House: The SSRC is a strong and consistent voice, working with other organizations to move cost- and resource-saving legislation forward. An active leader on the Mass. Product Stewardship Council, we are a leader in driving and supporting Producer Responsibility legislation, which would shift recycling and disposal costs from municipalities and ratepayers to producers and consumers, and improve recycling efficiency.
Check our advocacy page for more details

Member Towns

Abington
Braintree
Cohasset
Duxbury
East Bridgewater
Hanover
Hanson
Hingham
Hull

Kingston
Marshfield
Norwell
Pembroke
Plymouth
Rockland
Scituate
Weymouth
Whitman