Ecomaine, based in Portland, Maine, has announced that is has processed more than 66.8 million pounds of material from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, which marks a new record for the not-for-profit group. Its previous record of 61.4 million pounds was established the prior fiscal year.
Ecomaine is a not-for-profit organization owned and operated by 21 municipalities and serving 18 additional communities through contracts for recycling at its single-stream recycling center or for trash disposal at its waste-to-energy plant.
The organization’s newly elected board chairman, Portland Director of Public Services Michael Bobinsky, says, “This is outstanding news and speaks to the great operations and commitment from our member communities to reduce waste and recycle more.”
The financial strain felt by most municipalities has been one reason for the increase. “Recycling is free at Ecomaine,” Bobinsky says, “but trash disposal is billed to the municipality by the ton, so the more recyclables removed from trash, the less money a town must devote to trash disposal.”
As a result, many communities have increased efforts to promote recycling.
Bobinsky also credits the increase to the organization’s move to single-stream collections, which he says has increased participation.
To encourage recycling, Ecomaine posts monthly recycling statistics for each town on its website, www.ecomaine.org. Of its 39 participating communities, the Ecomaine town with the best recycling average at the end of fiscal year 2010 was North Yarmouth at 48 percent.