Trash rate on increase in Maine Waste generation offsets improved recycling tonnage

AUGUSTA – The amount of garbage being dumped into Maine’s landfills is growing, and recycling rates are decreasing, according to a state report presented to lawmakers on Thursday.

Maine residents, businesses and visitors generated more than 2 million tons of municipal solid waste from 2001 to 2003, according to the most recent Solid Waste Generation and Disposal Capacity Report. That’s up 9 percent since 2001.

As required by Maine law, the State Planning Office provided the Natural Resources Committee with a biennial report on the state’s solid waste data.

The state’s objective was to decrease waste generation by 5 percent over two years, George MacDonald, waste management and recycling program manager with the Maine State Planning Office, said Thursday.

“Obviously we didn’t make it if we had a 9 percent increase,” MacDonald said. Despite the trend, the state is maintaining its goal of a 5 percent decrease in in-state waste generation for the period 2003-2005, according to the state official.

In addition to in-state waste, Maine doubled the amount of out-of-state waste it accepted from 2001 to 2003, bringing the total to nearly 450,000 tons.

“Is this going to double every two years?” Rep. Robert Duchesne asked MacDonald.

The State Planning Office official chose not to answer, but said that “solid waste is a commodity, and it can move across borders.”

“States south of Maine are aggressively encouraging waste disposal out of state,” MacDonald said. “[Massachusetts has] a fairly aggressive diversion goal for construction and demolition debris – around 70 percent.”

Recent legislation sponsored by Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake, is now in front of the Natural Resources Committee. It attempts to ban the disposal in a landfill or in an incineration facility of debris resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition of structures unless the building is or was located in Maine.

Committee members are expected to address the acceptance of out-of-state waste more extensively when Martin’s bill goes to public hearing.

Maine also exported about 157,000 tons of its municipal solid waste, but the report does not indicate whether that is an increase over 2001.

For several years, the state has struggled with its diminishing sites to dispose of solid waste. The recently acquired West Old Town Landfill is expected to help alleviate the problem.

Eight municipally owned and operated solid waste landfills are expected to have about 13 years left before they fill up, the report said.

Two commercial landfills and the addition of the West Old Town Landfill are expected to provide the state with disposal capacity lasting at least 30 more years, according to MacDonald.

The report did not include the West Old Town Landfill because the sale of the property was not complete at the time it was written, he said.

The gap also is continuing to grow between the amount of waste Mainers generate and the state’s recycling rate. Even though the tonnage recycled in Maine increased by about 30,000 tons, increased waste generation caused the recycling rate to drop from 37.3 percent in 2001 to 35.5 percent in 2003.

The state’s report didn’t include some information committee members wanted to know, such as the amount of industrial waste generated by Mainers.

“If we’re looking at a solid waste report, shouldn’t we be looking at everything?” Rep. Joanne Twomey, D-Biddeford, said.

Rep. Robert Daigle, R-Arundel, noted that all of the information required by the state was in the report, but that readers had to look for it.

“I’m not sure if this is anything we can conclude on other than to ask more questions,” he said.