KENNBUNKPORT – In January, after more than a year had passed since Kennebunkport’s last recycling truckload had been collected, hundreds of residents streamed through the town’s public works garage to celebrate the return of single-sort recycling to Kennebunkport.

With summer drawing closer, the town is at it again.

A second, summertime kick-off to recycling event will take place Saturday, June 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., this time at Kennebunkport Recreation Center at 25 School St. The town of Kennebunkport will again partner with ecomaine to provide recycling bin giveaways, as well as other raffle prizes made from recycled content.

“We saw how excited residents were in January, when we reintroduced the program,” said Jon Dykstra, chair of the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee, in a June 21 news relase. “As our town’s population increases with the temperature, we thought the time was right to keep that excitement going.”

Officials also see the second event as a way to increase awareness of proper recycling, along with participation.

“The launch with Kennebunkport has been a good one,” said ecomaine’s Communications Manager Matt Grondin in an email. “We want to ensure that we work with the town to keep up the good work – and that means educating all our residents about what is – and isn’t – recyclable.”

Rates of contamination in Kennebunkport’s loads of recycling have remained below the 6 percent threshold that would incur extra fees, though there have been some that have been 5 percent, mainly due to plastic bags and films, as well as Styrofoam, neither of which can be recycled in single-sort recycling programs.

The single-sort recycling program allows Kennebunkport residents to collect paper, cardboard, metal cans, glass bottles and jars, and hard plastic containers No. 1-7 in one container for recycling at curbside.

Residents who need more information about sorting recyclables from trash can look on ecomaine’s website or use the ecomaine Recyclopedia, a mobile app and online database. ecomaine also offers free education to residents of any of its more than 70 member communities.

“We are grateful for the commitment by Kennebunkport’s Solid Waste and Recycling Committee leading up to and after the launch of the program,” said Grondin.  “It’s clear that the committee and the town’s residents are invested in the success of their recycling program, and ecomaine is pleased to offer resources to help the program thrive into the summer and beyond.”

Materials from residential recycling programs are turned into new items for everyday use, from new cardboard boxes to paper towels and toilet paper, and from clothing to composite lumber.

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