Recycling centers around Lincoln County began accepting different types of plastic last October and, according to facility supervisors, the program is growing and developing into a financial and environmental success.
Before Oct. 2009, only #2 plastics, including milk jugs and a handful of other small items, were recyclable in Lincoln County. Now, every facility in the county accepts #1-#7 plastics, as well as rigid plastics.
Shawn Dinsmore, supervisor of the Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station, said that facility got on board in March. Since then, the facility has collected eight dumpsters, or about 7200 pounds of plastics.
Each time Dinsmore and his crew fill a dumpster, Lincoln County trucks the plastic away free of charge. Mike Thompson, plant supervisor for the county, said he picks the dumpsters up from the county’s seven transfer stations, as well as four outside the county, at least once a week.
Thompson brings the plastic to his Wiscasset headquarters, bales it, and, when he has enough to fill a tractor-trailer – about 40,000 lbs. – sells it. This year, Thompson has sold three tractor-trailer loads of plastic.
Rigid plastic brings in about $35 per ton, Thompson said. As for the mixed plastic, “I’m pretty much giving it away right now,” he said. Sales of the mixed plastic cover transportation costs, but the big savings is in keeping plastics out of the trash. Towns pay $90-$120 per ton to dispose of trash, he said.
The program has already saved Bristol and South Bristol taxpayers $418, Dinsmore said. It’s not just about money, though. “It takes 20 years for a plastic bottle to degrade,” he said.
In addition to plastic bottles, plastics accepted under the new rules include plastic flatware; butter, yogurt and ketchup containers; one and five gallon buckets; laundry baskets, plastic toys and children’s’ pools. The biggest item in the rigid plastic category has been plastic lawn furniture, Dinsmore said.
The new, inclusive rules have proven popular with the people who use the facility, Dinsmore said, and, although it’s meant a slight increase in their workload, the employees don’t seem to mind.
They do, however, prefer clean plastic. Some residents bring in containers that still have food in them. Those containers aren’t recycled and make the sorting process unnecessarily messy.
Thompson expects the program to continue growing. Lincoln County recycling services about 30 towns in total, and more towns outside Lincoln County are eager to sign up for the plastics program.
Thompson also believes the program, already financially beneficial to participating towns, will become a profitable venture for the county as well. Thompson works with a variety of wholesalers to sell the plastic, and he’s hoping to negotiate a better price.
The only plastic still left out is “sheet plastic” – plastic bags and film, like Saran Wrap, or “anything that will get caught up in a conveyor belt,” Dinsmore said. Otherwise, Dinsmore said, “If it’s made out of plastic and it’s not a bag, we can recycle it.”
Thorough recyclers can bring their plastic bags to Hannaford supermarkets in Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta and Waldoboro as well as Shaw’s supermarket in Wiscasset.
“If [residents] have any questions, just bring it in. We’ll put it somewhere,” transfer station employee Kurt Geib said.
