Representatives from Saco, Biddeford, Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach, three small cities in Maine, are exploring the possibility of building a regional recycling center for the four communities.
The new Solid Waste Management and Recycling Team, made up of officials from the four communities, hopes to reduce the amount of trash brought to incinerators, and thereby reduce the cost of trash disposal for taxpayers.
Members of the committee say that a regional approach would be more cost-effective than the four individual recycling programs. Most towns now pay to process recyclables by the ton. By banding together, committee members say they can reduce that cost per ton.
"It just makes sense if four communities were selling recyclables in bulk," said Bruce Brodeur, chairman of Old Orchard Beach's Recycling Committee. "You're going to have more volume and we should get a lower price."
All four communities have recycling programs, but only Saco and Old Orchard Beach residents can put their recyclables at the curb for pickup.
It is unknown how much a new facility would cost, or even where it would be built.
Selling the idea to residents might be difficult, committee members say, because the communities already pay for recycling in the trash-disposal fees they pay to incinerators like Regional Waste Systems in Portland, which runs a recycling center along with its incinerator.
But organizers say they hope that the initial cost of the new facility would be relatively low, and that a regional plant could eventually become self-sufficient and reduce communities' costs by selling recycled materials.
Saco is taking the lead in educating residents. The City Council approved a new position this week for a city recycling officer to visit Saco schools and teach children about recycling. Scarborough, Old Orchard and Biddeford are considering similar positions.
Saco and Biddeford also are considering cutting the amount of trash by limiting residents to one can per week.
Scarborough Town Manager Ronald Owens said one possibility for residents in his town is to switch to curbside pickup and start pay-per-bag trash disposal, meaning residents would buy special trash bags in order to have their trash picked up.
In Old Orchard Beach, recyclables collected at the curb are sent to a recycling plant in New Hampshire. A new plant closer to Old Orchard Beach could cut down on hauling costs, said Town Manager Richard Haberman.
The first step is to increase each community's recycling rate, said Saco City Councilor Eric Cote, chairman of the regional committee.
He said the four communities collect about 3,500 tons of recyclables every year. That is not nearly enough for a separate plant, he said.
The percentage of trash recycled in each community varies, but remains low. For example, Cote estimated that Saco recycles 6 to 10 percent of its trash. In Scarborough, Owens said the town recycles about 13 percent of its waste. In Old Orchard Beach, the figure is about 6 percent. In Biddeford, where recycling is voluntary, exact figures were not available.
All of the figures are well below the 50 percent goal set by the state's Department of Waste Management and Recycling, said Program Manager George MacDonald.
Organizers say that the long-term goal of the regional committee is to meet the state's standard, and increase recycling to about 20,000 tons a year by 2012 and to 30,000 tons by 2022.
MacDonald said the communities' effort is an encouraging sign. "Many times a regional approach can be economically advantageous," he said. Portland Press