Maine
Maine State
Planning Office
Waste Management and Recycling Program
38 State House Station, 184 State St.
Augusta, ME 04333-0038
Phone: (207) 287-8934, (800) 662-4545 (in-state only); Fax: (207) 287-6489
NERC Member Representative
Waste Management and Recycling Program
George MacDonald, Program
Manager
Tel: (207) 287-5759; Fax: (207) 287-6489
Program Contacts
Press
Releases
General Information
Business Assistance Guide ~ Maine
Information on Free Energy
Audits for Businesses
Compost Information:
Maine Environmental Benefits Fact
Sheet
Most Recent Recycling Data
State Surplus Property Program
State Recycling Organization
Overview
Waste Management and Recycling Program
Program Review
The Maine State Planning Office, Waste Management and Recycling Program, is assigned three major areas of responsibility: Solid Waste Management Planning; Technical Assistance to Municipalities and Regions; and providing an adequacy of Solid Waste Disposal Capacity within the state. These tasks are more fully described below.
Solid Waste Management Planning
Program Goal:
Ensure that Maine has sufficient environmentally beneficial and economically viable recycling and disposal capacity.
Program Objectives:
- Serve communities and regions with designing and implementing solid waste management programs and strategies that will result in effective recycling and composting programs.
- Collect and manage the necessary data in order to determine levels of recycling, composting, and other forms of waste utilization within the state.
- Monitor solid waste generation and disposal data to establish capacity concerns and needs.
- Manage the review of solid waste and recycling policies.
- Update solid waste planning documents (State of Maine Waste Management & Recycling Plan and the Solid Waste Generation & Disposal Capacity Report).
Technical Assistance to Communities and Regions
Program Goal:
Furnish municipal decision makers with information, direction, and technical and financial assistance designed to aid them in managing their solid waste in an environmentally beneficial and cost effective manner. The solid waste management hierarchy serves as a guide in the development and providing of this assistance. As resources permit, provide financial assistance to aid in local efforts.
Program Objectives:
- Serve as a resource to communities and programs in the area of information on waste reduction, recycling, and related solid waste management issues.
- Develop programs to aid communities in evaluating various solid waste management options, including encouraging communities to work together to achieve regional economies of scale.
- Provide funding, as may be appropriate, to assist in evaluating options or implementation.
- Assist programs in developing and maintaining relationships with end-users and markets.
- On-going technical assistance to communities, including facility operations, Pay As You Throw programs, and program design/expansion guidance.
- State-wide recycling promotion (Maine Recycles Week and the ‘Maine Recycles’ campaign).
- Maintain an up-to-date, user friendly web site for solid waste management options, programs, documents, and links.
- Offer Municipal & college workshops.
- Educational literature (fact sheets, quarterly newsletter, composting/recycling promotion manual).
- Assist the business community to develop state programs and services that are designed to promote the solid waste hierarchy, as resources allow.
- Assist in providing training through the Operator Certification program.
- Promoting composting of food waste by linking large scale food waste generators with composters and processors.
- Encourage backyard composting to Maine residents and communities.
- Educational literature (fact sheets, quarterly newsletter, composting/recycling promotion manual).
Solid Waste Disposal Capacity
Program Goal:
Plan for the development of facilities sufficient to meet disposal needs for municipal solid waste identified in the state plan; may plan for development of facilities for special wastes identified in the state plan.
Program Objectives:
Site, design, and permit solid waste disposal facility in accordance with the needs identified in the state plan and any revisions to that plan.
Current Projects & Activities:
- Oversee operation of the state-owned landfill known as Juniper Ridge.
- Maintain future disposal facility site known as Carpenter Ridge.
- Keep current on other disposal facilities use and operation, as well as planned operations.
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