Municipal
Solid Waste Data Collection Begins.
Forms requesting 2003
year data from Maine municipalities and regions that manage municipal
solid waste and recycling programs have been sent out to the responsible
parties. This annual mailing request was again combined with the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection's annual reports request, to
reduce costs and improve efficiencies. The municipalities have been
asked to submit their 2003 program data to the State Planning Office
by the end of March, so that an analysis of the solid waste programs
may be conducted and an assessment of disposal capacity needs and recycling
activities may be accomplished.
Municipally submitted data
for the year 2002 has been organized and is available. Also available
are a series of state maps that indicate recycling and solid waste management
systems. Contact Hank Tyler
for more information.
Municipal
Recycling Directory Updated!
An alphabetical listing
of recycling programs including contact information, materials recycled,
disposal facilities, and volume to weight conversions has been updated
and posted to the recycling web
page.
2004 'Maine
Recycles Week' Calendars Available.
As part of Maine Recycles
Week, students in grades K-12, in public, private, and home schools
are invited to participate in a poster contest. Students creatively
express their understanding of the importance of recycling and buying
recycled and how their actions can encourage the wise use of renewable
and nonrenewable resources. The winning entries are used to design the
annual calendar. This year's winning entry, Reach for Recycling, is
by Jennifer, Grade 4, Weatherbee School, Hampden, and appears on the
calendar cover. To order your copy of the calendar, click
here, or contact Bruce White.
Food
Waste to Resource Symposium: Changing perceptions and building partnerships
On Thursday, March
18th, 2004, the Maine State Planning Office and the Maine DEP, Bureau
of Remediation and Waste Management, in cooperation with the Maine Department
of Agriculture, will host a one day symposium at Bowdoin College in
Brunswick. The event will mark the first time the state has dedicated
staff and resources to encourage large scale food waste producers to
consider composting as a management tool. It is intended to bring together
large scale food waste producers, composters, farm owners, and technical
and marketing experts from Maine and around the northeast region. The
symposium will kick start a year long state effort that will include
regional workshops and the development and distribution of an interactive
resource guide.
The State Planning Office
estimates that as much as 180,000 tons of food waste, approximately
10% of the state's 1.8 million tons of MSW, is currently being landfilled
or incinerated. Food waste represents that last untapped waste territory
in Maine's drive to achieve 50% recycling goal.
Keynote Address: T.
Fleisher, Director of Horticulture, Battery Park/City Parks, NYC
Speakers:
Barry Mills, President of Bowdoin College
John Majercak, Center for Ecological Tech, Northampton, MA
Adam Sherman, Intervale Compost Products, Burlington, VT
Wayne Ricker, Ricker Farms, Lisbon, ME
Christine Schwartz, Director of Dining Services, Bates College
Will Brinton, Woods End Research Labs, Mt. Vernon, ME
Bob St. 'Onge, Winterwood Farms, Lyman, ME
Sumner Martinson, Massachusetts DEP
Ted Brown, Hannaford Supermarkets, Scarborough, ME
Bob Kelly, Seacoast Farms Compost Products, Exeter, NH
Wesley Moody, Green Mountain Tech, Whitingham, VT
Carlos Quijano, Coast of Maine Organic Products, ME
Mark King, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Bill Seekins, Maine Department of Agriculture
Sam Morris, Maine State Planning Office
To Register visit
or call (207) 287-8934.
We
are delighted to welcome several renewing Advisory Members. Renewing
as a Sustaining Member is the 
