2009 CFL Recycling Survey Results in Maine

By Dr. Travis Wagner (851 KB)

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Single Sort Recycling

After nearly two years of study, the 21 owner-municipalities of ecomaine voted on May 18, 2006 to bring single stream recycling to Maine. Single stream 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 single stream 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 (known as "silver bullets") 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 (sometimes called "silver bullets"), which are placed within easy reach of about 20% of Maine's total population.

Single sort recycling information:

Single Sort Brochure (PDF 283KB)

Download a copy of A Guide to Recycling for Small Businesses. (PDF 163KB)

What Changed?

Instead of separating recyclables by type, simply combine all glass, metal, paper, cardboard, and plastics #1-7 into one recycling container. It's simple.

With more than 120 recycling containers in 60 locations throughout southern Maine, ecomaine provides for convenient, energy-efficient disposal of recyclable materials, such as colored paper, old mail, newspapers, magazines, phone books, catalogs and paper bags. We also accept paperboard, glass, cans, aluminum and plastic. More information on what can be recycled.

The ecomaine Single-Sort Guide

What changed?
Instead of separating recyclables by type, simply combine all glass, metal, paper, cardboard, and plastics #1-7into one recycling container.  It’s simple.

Is this recycling system better for the environment?
YES. Every ton recycled is one less ton in the waste stream, and national statistics show that single-sort recycling systems result in more recycling. Why?  Because it’s so much easier (no sorting).

Here is a list of common items that you can recycle:

YES! PAPER

• cardboard/all boxes
• newspaper & inserts/junk mail
• hard cover books
• magazines/catalogs/phone books
• paper bags
• office paper/window envelopes/ office file folders 
• paper plates (clean)/pizza boxes
• paper shopping bags     
• empty drink & aseptic containers/ empty milk & juice cartons
• gift boxes
• cereal boxes
• corrugated cardboard 
• wrapping paper

YES!PLASTIC

• all empty containers marked with a #1-7, except Styrofoam
• plastic grocery/shopping bags marked with a #2 or #4
• water bottles (empty)
• detergent bottles (empty)
• milk jugs (empty)
  

YES!METAL

• empty tin cans
• empty aerosol cans
• empty aluminum cans
• foil
• pots & pans

YES!GLASS

• all empty bottles & jars (all colors)

NO!Here is a list of items that can not be recycled:

• light bulbs
• vinyl siding
• windows/glass
• hypodermic needles or sharp objects
• paper napkins or towels
• bubble wrap/Styrofoam/Tyvek 
• food/frozen food bags/liquids  
• toys/diapers
• clothing
• plastic wrap or film
• potato chip, sandwich, or bread bags
• gas or propane containers
• alkaline or button-cell batteries
• trash/trash bags 
• No Hazardous Waste: fuel, anti-freeze, oil-based paints, paint thinners, stain, fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals.
• No Universal Waste: mercury in thermostats, fluorescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lights, televisions, computers, and button-cell batteries.

Did You Know?

• Maine law requires that old TVs, computers, cell phones and other HHW (household hazardous waste) materials be recycled at State certified sites, such as the City of Portland's Riverside Transfer Station. For more information and to find the site nearest you, contact your municipal government .
• When you recycle you are also reducing your amount of waste. And, every pound of material you recycle is one less pound for which your town must pay a disposal fee.
• ecomaine has the largest municipal recycling program in the state, processing more than 27,000 tons of recyclable material per year.
• Each person in the United States disposes of about 4 pounds of trash every day - about 30 percent more waste per person than in 1960.
• About 50 percent of the material recycled by ecomaine is paper. Cardboard, glass, steel cans and aluminum make up the other recyclables.
• Paper is often recycled into more newsprint, cardboard into more cardboard, cans into new steel, and plastic into more plastic. However, PET (plastic) soda bottles are also used to make fleece clothing or synthetic "wood."
• Anything that comes to ecomaine not labeled as recyclables is re-used as fuel to produce electricity.

 

Recycling Facility

The ecomaine recycling facility is the largest in Maine. We recycle fiber (paper, paperboard, corrugated cardboard, newsprint), #1 through #7 plastic containers, metal (tin, aluminum, steel), and glass. At the close of the 2005-2006 fiscal year ecomaine's recycling center had recycled 24,609.53 tons - a record for ecomaine. In fiscal year (2006-2007), ecomaine recycled more than 27,000 tons and set another record.

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.

While some ecomaine employees move materials with heavy equipment, others monitor conveyor belts and specialized sorting equipment as materials are sorted into homogeneous groups. Each group of like-materials follows a separate route through the building:

• Cardboard is separated by a star screen separator that utilizes large rubber stars mounted on shafts. These shafts spin the stars. Due to the spacing between the stars, different materials can be sorted. By spacing the stars farther apart large cardboard can be separated because it will not fall between the stars whereas everything else will. The cardboard is then carried over the tops of the stars, passed from one shaft to the next until it falls over the last shaft onto a conveyor where it is whisked away to a holding bunker for baling at a later time. Everything small enough to fall through the stars (paper, plastic, metal & glass) falls onto a conveyor that then goes to manual presort.

• Paper is also sorted by star screen separators. ecomaine has a double deck of two star screens. The top, newspaper screen, is configured with similar rubber stars but smaller and spaced closer together. Using the same premise as cardboard the newspaper will pass from one shaft to the next over the top of the stars and fall onto a conveyor. Everything that falls through the stars then falls onto the second deck which utilizes stars configured even closer together. This mixed paper screen will sort out mixed paper, junk mail, magazines and the like. Everything that falls through the second deck (plastic, metal, and glass) continues on to the next phase in the sorting process. The sorted paper is then refined and baled. Compressed at 3100 pounds per square inch, the material is made into 2200 pound bales at the rate of one every 5-8 minutes.
  
  

• Glass, plastic, and metal are conveyed next to the magnet, where ferrous metals are separated and stored for baling.
• The glass, plastic and non-ferrous or aluminum are then sent over a glass breaking screen that breaks the glass. Then, the plastic, aluminum, and broken glass will pass through another star screen which utilizes much smaller stars that are positioned very close together. This allows for the broken glass to fall through but the plastic and aluminum will continue over the tops of the stars. The broken glass is then conveyed to a glass cleaning unit to remove shredded paper which tends to follow broken glass due to the size. The glass is cleaned, to remove shredded paper, and crushed and used as aggregate.
• The plastic and aluminum next pass through a sizing screen which is used to remove large plastic. Once the small plastic and aluminum are sorted they pass over an eddy current which acts like a reverse magnet that repels aluminum. This technology is used to sort the aluminum from the plastic. The large plastic must be removed to allow the eddy current to effectively repel the aluminum into a storage container for baling later.
  
  

• What is left is small and large plastic which is then rejoined onto a conveyor that will then pass under an Optical Sorter. This innovative new equipment shoots an ultra violet light through all the plastics and when it detects #1 PET it will direct a jet of air to propel the plastic into a chute that will convey the material to a holding container for baling. The remaining material will fall onto another conveyor which will then pass manual sorters who positively sort out #2 HDPE colored plastics, (laundry detergent bottles) #2 HDPE natural plastics, (milk jugs) and #3-#7 plastics.

• All materials (with the exception of glass) are baled by type. The various bales are then sold at current market value (determined by demand) and picked-up by the buyer in tractor-trailer trucks. View a diagram of the single sort process. (PDF 52KB)

ecomaine continually monitors the fluctuation of market prices for each of its recyclable materials and communicates with potential buyers to ensure the best return for our communities.

ecomaine also reaches out to communities all over southern Maine, whether or not they are members, offering free assistance to schools and to recycling committees. School programs and presentations are part of our recycling education effort, as well as presentations and printed materials for adults.

For our member and associate communities, ecomaine also provides large collection trailers (known as "silver bullets") for recycling by individual residents. These trailers/containers are usually placed at transfer stations, large parking lots, or other easy-access locations and have been successful in increasing recycling. ecomaine owns 120 recycling trailers, which are placed within easy reach of about 20% of Maine's total population.

Additionally, ecomaine would like to encourage recycling in small businesses. Download a copy of A Guide to Recycling for Small Businesses. (PDF 163KB)