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ecomaine is a non-profit waste management company owned and operated by 20 municipalities in southern Maine. With 57 member communities in total, ecomaine provides services to a combined population of more than 400,000.We are dedicated supporters of recycling and environmental protection, as evidenced by our ISO-14001 certification for excellence in environmental management at each of our three facilities.
ecomaine provides comprehensive long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally responsible, economically sound manner, and is a leader in raising public awareness of sustainable waste management strategies.
ecomaine -originally named Regional Waste Services- was founded on 1976 by the municipalities of Cape Elizabeth, Portland, Scarborough and South Portland in response to a new Maine law that called for the closing of privately owned landfills. Two years later the group purchased 240 acres (primarily located in South Portland and Scarborough) for a jointly owned landfill and bought a baler to satisfy their processing needs. By 1985, the regional organization had grown to 21 municipalities.
Guiding principles set forth by the 21 governing communities have been – and continue to be – commitment to efficient waste services for their citizens and protection of the environment.
The waste-to-energy plant was built in 1988 and provided two major benefits: 1) use of municipal waste as fuel to generate and sell electricity for the financial health of the organization, and 2) reduction in the volume of trash by 90 percent to greatly extend the life of the landfill.
Recycling was added in 1990 and single-stream recycling was added in 2007 for both environmental and financial considerations that have succeeded beyond expectation.
As of 2012, ecomaine had added 25 municipalities under contract for services, eliminated its debt, and earned the International Standards Organization certification for excellence in environmental management for each of its three facilities.
ecomaine is Maine’s pioneer of single-sort recycling. Single-Sort is leading-edge technology that eliminates the need to separate recyclables by category for collection. The many ripple-effect benefits are both economic and environmental and include: increased participation in recycling, less time for curbside collection, less idling time for trucks (resulting in less pollution), and fewer trips to the ecomaine recycling facility.
The 20 owner-municipalities of ecomaine voted on May 18, 2006 to bring Single-Sort Recycling to Maine after two years of study. The Single-Sort equipment and installation cost approximately $3.7 million and was operational in May of 2007. Funding came from reserves and earnings from the sale of recyclables.
For our member and associate communities, ecomaine provides large collection trailers for recycling by local residents. These trailers/containers are usually placed at transfer stations, large parking lots, or other easy-access locations to encourage recycling. ecomaine owns 120 recycling trailers, which are placed within easy reach of about 20% of Maine’s total population.
ecomaine serves the solid waste needs of more than 40 municipalities in Southern Maine utilizing a waste-to-energy (WTE) power plant, single-sort recycling center and a 250 acre landfill/ashfill. It monitors adjacent waters and air emission releases to assure that none of its facility operations adversely impact the surrounding environment.
All three ecomaine facilities are ISO 14001 certified for excellence in environmental management (the WTE and recycling center since 2002 and the landfill/ashfill since 2007). ISO, the International Standards Organization, headquartered in Switzerland, requires on-going semi-annual audits by an accredited registrar.ecomaine is the largest publically owned and operated integrated waste management service in the U.S. to hold these certifications at its three facilities.
ecomaine is southern Maine’s leader in recycling and waste-to-energy operations, serving 25 percent of the state’s population; a non-profit organization, we are owned by 20 communities and located in Portland, Maine.
We provide comprehensive long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally responsible, economically sound manner, and we are a leader in raising public awareness of sustainable waste management strategies.
The ecomaine recycling facility is the largest in Maine. We recycle fiber (paper, paperboard, corrugated cardboard, newsprint), #1 through #7 rigid plastic containers, metal (tin, aluminum, steel), and glass. At the close of the 2013-14 fiscal year ecomaine‘s recycling center had recycled 41,986 tons – a record for ecomaine.
Though much of the recycling tonnage would be valuable fuel for the waste-to-energy plant, the owner-communities and management of ecomaine are committed to making recycling their first priority. To continue the upward trend of recycling tonnage, ecomaine has dedicated two employees to recycling outreach among member and non-member communities.
Our recycling facility is located at 64 Blueberry Road, Portland (next to the waste-to-energy plant) and occupies the building originally built for baling solid waste in the 1970s. Trucks from all over southern Maine now stop here to unload recyclable materials. Because recyclables have value as a raw material, trucks are weighed before and after they drop off materials – the difference determines tonnage ecomaine has purchased.
| No | Material Name |
|---|---|
| Glass | |
| 1 | CRV Glass bottles |
| Metal | |
| 2 | Aluminum Cans |
| 3 | Tin Cans |
| Paper | |
| 4 | News Paper |
| 5 | Cardboard |
| 6 | Magazines |
| Plastic | |
| 7 | #1 & # 2 Plastic |
| 8 | Mixed plastic bottles |
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$49 USD/MONTH
