By James V. Horrigan
Staff Writer
Six months since Scarborough instituted curbside pick-up of household recyclables, program coordinator Sarah Wojcoski said every indication is that the effort is a success.
“I’ve had a lot of positive feedback,” Wojcoski said of the program that uses trucks with driver-operated mechanical arms to lift, empty and replace both recyclable and non-recyclable trash receptacles.
The program kicked off in April when homeowners were given matching, wheeled containers and the opportunity to turn in their old metal and plastic barrels for recycling at the DPW facility in the Scarborough Industrial Park.
“We ended up with about 16 tons of old barrels, which we brought to be recycled at ecomaine,” Wojcoski said of the non-profit waste management company owned and operated by Scarborough and 20 other municipalities in southern Maine. “We had a good-sized pile going on in the yard; it was two school buses long, probably one deep.”
But are people happy with the sturdy, uniform-sized containers and the robot-like vehicle that collects it?
“The word on the street is good,” Wojcoski said. “I’ve received a few e-mails saying ‘I was opposed to this program at first and now I really like it.’”
Others have told her they moved to Scarborough from a community where the program had been in place and are pleased to see it here now.
But it’s not just people from away who sing the praises of the single-stream sorting process. Longtime resident Dianne Mills of Spurwink Road called the program wonderful.
"It’s so much easier than sorting it all out. I used to go to the silver bullets twice a week and get rid of everything. This is unbelievable,” Mills said.
Mills might appreciate the new convenience of curbside pick-up of recyclables, but Wojcoski is surprised that many people still use the bins at the DPW facility.
“We thought that we were going to see a savings by not having to use those silver bullets anymore. But we actually found that they’re still being used in high frequency, so we can’t get rid of them,” she said.
Wojcoski, though surprised, is not disappointed.
“It means that many more people are using the curbside program that weren’t recycling before.”
Prior to the use of the new robo-trucks the town wide recycling rate was less than 20 percent. In a matter of months that has changed dramatically.
“In September we had a 35.35 recycling rate,” she said, making the town goal of around 40 percent well within reach.
Pinetree Waste, the Maine division of Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, owns four of the barrel-lifting trucks. “They started off using all four, but now they leave one as a back-up, so they typically have three trucks,” Wojcoski said.
The vehicles, which cost $250,000 each, don’t have a fancy name or even a nickname.
“We just call them ‘automated’ trucks,” Wojcoski said. She admits they are fun to watch, but said they’re even more fun to operate.
“It’s like playing a video game because you have to operate the joystick to pull up. It’s all eye/hand.”
Because the vehicles are driven from the right side and require the driver to lift and empty the barrels, operators were required to undergo 40 hours of additional training.
Brian Hersey of Arundel drives one of the robo-trucks. Last week near Higgins Beach Hersey demonstrated his proficiency with the mechanical arm. “You have to be able to pull up in the right spot, so the arm reaches between [the barrels]." When a container is lifted he pointed to a video screen in the cabin, connected to a camera mounted on the roof of the truck, so operators can tell if the can is fully empty, he explained.
That part of the process fascinates Wojcoski as well. “When they’re dumping the barrels they can actually see the items that are falling into the truck. I’m really excited about the single-stream recycling.”
“It’s good for the environment,” Mills agreed. But recycling household trash is not her only green habit. “I compost,” she added. “I’m trying to help.”