DoomsdaysCW<p>So, I caught a glimpse of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoMaine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EcoMaine</span></a>'s new recycling facility, which has been completed. The new imaging technology will help separate recyclables even faster and more efficiently! Pretty cool stuff!</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ecomaine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ecomaine</span></a> plans $25 million <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/recycling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>recycling</span></a> center upgrade </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MainePublic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MainePublic</span></a> | By Peter McGuire<br>Published September 9, 2024</p><p>"One of Maine’s largest recyclers is planning a multi-million dollar upgrade of its Portland plant in anticipation of handling more cardboard and other household waste.</p><p>"Ecomaine, a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CommunityOwned" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CommunityOwned</span></a> corporation, plans to spend up to $25.2 million on state-of-the-art sorting equipment at a new recycling plant near its Portland headquarters.</p><p>"CEO Kevin Roche said the new automated sorting machines use <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ImagingTechnology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ImagingTechnology</span></a> to separate mixed recycling such as paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum.</p><p>"The equipment will replace the company's current machines, installed around 2006.</p><p>"Back then, newsprint made up most of the recycling ecomaine handled, according to Roche. With a boom in online shopping and home delivery, however, cardboard has become the top material it handles.</p><p>" 'Paper packing has really taken over the recycling bin, so we need a new design and plus the new system is nearly 20 years old,' Roche said.</p><p>"The market for recyclables has rebounded from a slump after China stopped accepting most U.S. solid waste about seven years ago.</p><p>"American companies retrofitted mills to process used cardboard into more packaging material, boosting domestic demand, Roche said.</p><p>"But local policy is also likely to increase the amount of material ecomaine handles, he added.</p><p>"Maine regulators are finalizing requirements that producers pay for the cost of disposing <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/packaging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>packaging</span></a> waste. The extended producer responsibility program would reimburse towns and cities for their recycling programs.</p><p>"With that policy in place, Roche said that more communities will likely expand programs or revive abandoned recycling rather than 'leave money on the table.'</p><p>" 'So that in concert with public outcry for more recycling and more recovery, those two things are going to go hand in hand and I think, expand recycling programs,' Roche said.</p><p>"The company hopes its expansion will allow it to add more member communities that own and send waste to the Portland facility.</p><p>"Ecomaine plans to borrow $35.5 million through a bond issue for the recycling upgrade and a landfill expansion. Adding more landfill space will give the company seven more years to store ash from its waste-to-energy [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WTE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WTE</span></a>] plant, according to the company.</p><p>"The public corporation is owned by a collection of towns and cities in southern Maine. It serves about 73 communities statewide."</p><p>Source:<br><a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2024-09-09/ecomaine-plans-25-million-recycling-center-upgrade" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">mainepublic.org/climate/2024-0</span><span class="invisible">9-09/ecomaine-plans-25-million-recycling-center-upgrade</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SolarPunkSunday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SolarPunkSunday</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Recycle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Recycle</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TrashToEnergy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TrashToEnergy</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FoodWasteComposting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FoodWasteComposting</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GarbageToGarden" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GarbageToGarden</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Maine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Maine</span></a></p>