I was pleased to see that your editorial “Easier recycling” (BDN, Nov. 12) addressed the importance of single-sort recycling, both to our ecology and our economy. However, your reference that such a facility is “being built in the Portland area” is out of date: the ecomaine single-sort facility has been operating since May 1. This leading-edge technology is just the third such system in New England and is the only one in Maine.

As you pointed out, the issue of economics often determines whether a municipality would choose to adopt single-sort recycling. The 30 member-communities of ecomaine, after careful study, determined that the $3.7 million investment was a responsible commitment. When individual communities assess the economic feasibility of collecting and transporting single-sort recycling to Portland, they need to include the benefit of increasing their recycling percentages and the savings from reduced from trash disposal payment.

In the editorial you also noted that “it makes less sense to adopt that [single-sort] approach in municipalities where recycling is currently earning a profit.” Based on our experience as a regional operation, we have not yet found a city or town in Maine that makes a net profit when a full cost accounting is applied. (That is, though a town may receive $100,000 in revenue, a full accounting of all expenses may show a cost of $150,000, which ultimately costs the town $50,000.) It is because ecomaine provides buyers with a large and steady volume (more than 25,000 tons per year) that it obtains higher prices for its recycled material and earns a surplus.

I would also disagree with your advice that single-sort would be “worth considering if recycling rates decline further.” Recycling is not a business that one starts and stops depending on the commodity market. The free market will always fluctuate, and municipalities will find it costly to use its resources to switch back and forth.

Kevin Roche

General Manager

ecomaine

Portland