I saw this sign on a bin in the Portland (Maine) airport. Given that I've never seen a system as simple as this in use anywhere else, I can't help but wonder what's involved in separating the various materials, and why southern Maine is willing to do it, but no one else is.
ecomaine.org has a cool video on its site that gives a bit of an idea of how they separate it all. It also makes the point that the simpler a recycling system is, the more likely it is that people will actually use it.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
All in One Recycling
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ecomaine is a non-profit waste to energy facility and recycling facility and ashfill owned and operated by 21 Maine Communities. If anyone is interested receiving a free copy of ecomaine's 11 minute DVD that tells more about ecomaine and demonstrates how single sort material is separated, email me at labbe@ecomaine.org. It is a facinating experience to see how paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and glass are put into the system and sorted in under three minutes! (18 tons per hour!)
Thanks -- I did check out the video on the ecomaine site, and recommend it to anyone else.
Do you know if other recycling groups have checked out the separation technology you're using? For instance, in St. Paul, Minnesota, our recycling nonprofit is Eureka Recycilng -- for whom we do just one type of separation all paper vs. all glass/metal/plastic bottles.
Minneapolis, which contracts its recycling with a for-profit waste hauler, still requires residents to separate types of paper and metal from glass and plastic.
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