WOOLWICH
On Saturday, the town of Woolwich will kick off its new recycling and trash disposal program with ecomaine, a Portlandbased single-sort processing center
The partnership with ecomaine follows the short-lived and controversial Pay as You Throw recycling initiative with WasteZero, which voters repealed last November. The initiative, which was in effect for less than six months, required Woolwich residents to pay for special orange bags for their trash disposal, to the frustration of many residents.
The Pay as You Throw program initiative ended on Jan. 27, but some in the town continued to look for opportunities to recycle and reduce waste.
Protecting the environment is very important to the community, said Solid Waste and Recycling Committee Chairman Jonathan Appleyard.
“The town of Woolwich is working on this together,” he said.
By May, the town had signed contracts with ecomaine for waste handling and recycling, and by July the Maine nonprofit was processing the town’s waste and recyclables.
“We have been impressed by Woolwich’s historic commitment to recycling right and to reducing the amount of waste generated in the town, and look forward to partnering with the community on continued waste-reduction efforts,” said Kevin Roche, CEO of ecomaine, in a press release.
Ecomaine is a single-sort processing center, which means that different types of recyclables are separated at a Portland facility, not by residents. Next door to the recycling facility is a waste-to energy plant, where waste that cannot be recycled is burned there to create electricity, which helps offset the cost of the facilities. The remaining ashes are placed in a nearby landfill.
The nonprofit is owned and operated by 20 southern Maine municipalities, but it has contracts with dozens more. The waste and recycling center serves 25 percent of the state’s population.
While the new partnership is only a few weeks old, Appleyard is optimistic. While mistakes are to be expected with any transition, “most people who have spoken with me or my committee are very happy with ecomaine,” Appleyard said.
The kickoff event starts Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Town Office, and will continue to 1 p.m. The first 100 attendees will receive free ecomaine recycling bins, although all attendees will be able to enter hourly drawings for other prizes. Ecomaine representatives will be on hand to answer any questions about recyclable materials.
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