Since taking effect at the beginning of October, Wiscasset’s new recycling ordinance has caused a big up-tick in recycling, according to Wiscasset Transfer Station Supt. Ron Lear.
“A few people will show up with a check in hand, but there’s a pretty good increase in recycling,” Lear said. “I can’t wait to have a year’s worth of data.”
Lear reported the transfer station has seen a sharp increase in the amount of recyclables it sends to Pine Tree Waste in Bath.
When interviewed in August about the new ordinance, Lear believed that around 75 percent of residents recycled. Lear now said that, “95 percent” of residents are now separating their trash.
Those who still don’t separate their trash do so because they claim they don’t have the time or they don’t have room at their homes for another bin, Lear said.
Passed at a town meeting July 15, Wiscasset’s new recycling ordinance places a $2 fine on bags brought to the transfer station that contain both non-recyclables and recyclables. The fine was introduced to mostly to help curb costs associated with disposing of non-recyclables: It costs the town $65 more to dispose of a bag of non-recyclables than a bag of recyclables.
Lear estimated that introducing mandatory recycling would save the town between $7500 and $8000, a reduction that would ultimately be reflected in individual tax bills.
Though concerns about how to enforce the new law were raised prior to the ordinance taking affect, there has been little difficulty in encouraging compliance. As long as a transfer station attendant is present, Lear said, people either recycle or pay the fee.
Much of the success, Town Manager Laurie Smith said, can be attributed to the education efforts undertaken by the transfer station to help residents understand what exactly was being changed.
Smith said more education efforts will be undertaken to encourage recycling habits and to show residents how their efforts are helping the town as a whole.
