Recycling is picking up at ecomaine
Recycling is picking up at ecomaine
By Zack Anchors
Staff writer
Editor’s note: There will be more information about the future of ecomaine in a story next week.
There has been a lot of buzz about “regionalization” as a way for municipalities to streamline the efficiency and lower the costs of services provided for residents. Several Cumberland County communities have formed the Metro regional coalition to explore potential ways to share resources, the state is requiring a shift to regional dispatch services and some politicians are claiming regionalization is an essential step towards relieving the state’s tax burden. Despite the recent emphasis, regionalization is not a new idea, and some such partnerships have been serving local communities for decades. One example is the 30-year-old non-profit corporation that receives the solid-waste of 28 southern Maine communities –ecomaine, until recently known as Regional Waste Systems (RWS).
Along with the new name, chosen to emphasize the organization’s focus on ecologically sound practices, ecomaine has undergone a series of changes lately. Among them is the city of Saco’s decision to become an associate member and begin sending its solid waste to the facility next July and its recyclable materials next December. Saco’s decision to join, said ecomaine General Manager Kevin Roche, is good news for all the member communities.
“The more communities that are involved, the more recyclable materials and waste there is,” he said. “Working regionally instead of each community working on its own definitely has its advantages.”
The advantage to more waste and recyclable materials for ecomaine is that it gives the organization greater leverage to transform that waste and recyclable materials into a source of revenue. There are two main ways that ecomaine does this: through selling the energy it creates at its waste-to-energy plant and by selling recyclable materials. In its 2006/2007 budget cycle, ecomaine drew in more than $1.9 million in revenues from recycling alone. This year, ecomaine saw an increase of 18 percent in the amount of recyclable materials collected from the previous year, which had broken a record at 20,734 tons.
Roche expects that figure to climb higher with the opening of ecomaine’s new $3.7 million single-stream recycling facility. With single-stream equipment, recyclable materials will not need to be sorted until it reaches ecomaine’s facility, where new equipment will separate out the items. Single-stream recycling is expected to decrease the cost of collection by around 20 percent for member communities, make recycling easier for residents and make curbside pick up of recyclable material economically feasible for some communities. As more communities switch over to curbside recycling (Scarborough will be switching over to curbside recycling on May 1 to coincide with the start-up of the new equipment), and Saco begins to contribute its recyclables, Roche expects the amount or recyclable material to climb further.
“The equipment has been ordered and it’s expected to arrive this week,” said Roche of the single-stream infrastructure. “It will allow a system that’s more convenient and less costly.”
Roche says one of the main advantages of single-stream is that it will minimize the amount of idling trucks will need to do when collecting recyclable materials. It will also allow trucks to make far fewer trips to the recycling facility due to an ability to mix materials together and compact them. This will mean savings for municipalities, but the ease of single-stream recycling is also expected to increase participation, meaning more materials for ecomaine and increased revenue.
“Certainly it’s going to increase revenues,” said Roche. “We’re hoping the increase in revenues will pay off the capital cost.”
As ecomaine collects more recyclable materials, it gains leverage in the marketplace and a greater ability to maintain a consistent source of revenue, said Roche. This year, the recycling program generated a $600,000 surplus. Roche said ecomaine would also welcome the recyclable materials of other communities that may want to become associate members in the future.
“The recycling facility has plenty of room – we’re really pushing that,” said Roche.
Ecomaine’s waste-to-energy facility has also been bringing in more revenues than in previous years. Last year, ecomaine renegotiated its contract for the sale of electricity and increased its revenue from the previous budget cycle by 68 percent. From the 168,435 tons of trash it burned in its facility, ecomaine was able to produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes, which it sold for $5.3 million. The current contract will be renegotiated in January of 2008.
Because the waste-to-energy plant must operate 24 hours a day in order to maximize efficiency, ecomaine needs to have a steady flow of waste to feed it. Often, during times when waste collection is low, ecomaine relies on the spot market – outside sources of waste that pay lower tipping fees. The increase in waste that will come with Saco joining ecomaine will help to provide more consistency and predictability, said Shelly Dunn, ecomaine communications specialist.
“When we get into low volume periods we offer for others to bring trash in,” said Dunn. “This will reduce the amount of times we depend on the spot market.”
Out of ecomaine’s $25 million dollar 2005/2006 budget, more than $9 million was devoted to paying off around $55 million in debt. Roche said this debt was incurred through the construction of ecomaine facilities and other capital projects. Last year, ecomaine saved more than $2 million by refinancing their existing debt with lower interest rates. Under the current debt schedule, ecomaine’s debt service will be as low as $300,000 in 2013. But Roche says that more improvements, and more debt, are likely to be needed at some point.
“We certainly want to continue to make improvements and to make our facilities better,” he said. “It’s not like in 2012 there will never be another debt payment again.”
By Zack Anchors
Staff writer
Editor’s note: There will be more information about the future of ecomaine in a story next week.
There has been a lot of buzz about “regionalization” as a way for municipalities to streamline the efficiency and lower the costs of services provided for residents. Several Cumberland County communities have formed the Metro regional coalition to explore potential ways to share resources, the state is requiring a shift to regional dispatch services and some politicians are claiming regionalization is an essential step towards relieving the state’s tax burden. Despite the recent emphasis, regionalization is not a new idea, and some such partnerships have been serving local communities for decades. One example is the 30-year-old non-profit corporation that receives the solid-waste of 28 southern Maine communities –ecomaine, until recently known as Regional Waste Systems (RWS).
Along with the new name, chosen to emphasize the organization’s focus on ecologically sound practices, ecomaine has undergone a series of changes lately. Among them is the city of Saco’s decision to become an associate member and begin sending its solid waste to the facility next July and its recyclable materials next December. Saco’s decision to join, said ecomaine General Manager Kevin Roche, is good news for all the member communities.
“The more communities that are involved, the more recyclable materials and waste there is,” he said. “Working regionally instead of each community working on its own definitely has its advantages.”
The advantage to more waste and recyclable materials for ecomaine is that it gives the organization greater leverage to transform that waste and recyclable materials into a source of revenue. There are two main ways that ecomaine does this: through selling the energy it creates at its waste-to-energy plant and by selling recyclable materials. In its 2006/2007 budget cycle, ecomaine drew in more than $1.9 million in revenues from recycling alone. This year, ecomaine saw an increase of 18 percent in the amount of recyclable materials collected from the previous year, which had broken a record at 20,734 tons.
Roche expects that figure to climb higher with the opening of ecomaine’s new $3.7 million single-stream recycling facility. With single-stream equipment, recyclable materials will not need to be sorted until it reaches ecomaine’s facility, where new equipment will separate out the items. Single-stream recycling is expected to decrease the cost of collection by around 20 percent for member communities, make recycling easier for residents and make curbside pick up of recyclable material economically feasible for some communities. As more communities switch over to curbside recycling (Scarborough will be switching over to curbside recycling on May 1 to coincide with the start-up of the new equipment), and Saco begins to contribute its recyclables, Roche expects the amount or recyclable material to climb further.
“The equipment has been ordered and it’s expected to arrive this week,” said Roche of the single-stream infrastructure. “It will allow a system that’s more convenient and less costly.”
Roche says one of the main advantages of single-stream is that it will minimize the amount of idling trucks will need to do when collecting recyclable materials. It will also allow trucks to make far fewer trips to the recycling facility due to an ability to mix materials together and compact them. This will mean savings for municipalities, but the ease of single-stream recycling is also expected to increase participation, meaning more materials for ecomaine and increased revenue.
“Certainly it’s going to increase revenues,” said Roche. “We’re hoping the increase in revenues will pay off the capital cost.”
As ecomaine collects more recyclable materials, it gains leverage in the marketplace and a greater ability to maintain a consistent source of revenue, said Roche. This year, the recycling program generated a $600,000 surplus. Roche said ecomaine would also welcome the recyclable materials of other communities that may want to become associate members in the future.
“The recycling facility has plenty of room – we’re really pushing that,” said Roche.
Ecomaine’s waste-to-energy facility has also been bringing in more revenues than in previous years. Last year, ecomaine renegotiated its contract for the sale of electricity and increased its revenue from the previous budget cycle by 68 percent. From the 168,435 tons of trash it burned in its facility, ecomaine was able to produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes, which it sold for $5.3 million. The current contract will be renegotiated in January of 2008.
Because the waste-to-energy plant must operate 24 hours a day in order to maximize efficiency, ecomaine needs to have a steady flow of waste to feed it. Often, during times when waste collection is low, ecomaine relies on the spot market – outside sources of waste that pay lower tipping fees. The increase in waste that will come with Saco joining ecomaine will help to provide more consistency and predictability, said Shelly Dunn, ecomaine communications specialist.
“When we get into low volume periods we offer for others to bring trash in,” said Dunn. “This will reduce the amount of times we depend on the spot market.”
Out of ecomaine’s $25 million dollar 2005/2006 budget, more than $9 million was devoted to paying off around $55 million in debt. Roche said this debt was incurred through the construction of ecomaine facilities and other capital projects. Last year, ecomaine saved more than $2 million by refinancing their existing debt with lower interest rates. Under the current debt schedule, ecomaine’s debt service will be as low as $300,000 in 2013. But Roche says that more improvements, and more debt, are likely to be needed at some point.
“We certainly want to continue to make improvements and to make our facilities better,” he said. “It’s not like in 2012 there will never be another debt payment again.”
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