Maine Materials Management Plan
State Solid Waste Management and
Recycling Plan 2019 
5 Year Update

Comments from 
Kat Taylor
Argyle Twp. 
Introduction:

My name is Kat Taylor, I am a resident and property owner in the unorganized township of Argyle. The following paper serves as my recommendations for updating the 2019 Maine Materials Management Plan.
My recommendations are focused on an overarching concept that fundamentally changes the way Resource Management is practiced in Maine. Rather than specifics, which should be locally determined, my focus is on a sustainable, scalable model that may be used by all communities in Maine regardless of size.
1. My first recommendation would be to simplify the title to something like Maine Resource Management Plan 2024. Resource Management is the term used in this paper when referring to Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). 
Waste is a choice and to change minds about what to do with unwanted items we need to change our perception of what is ‘useless’. Simple, common language is essential when dealing with interdisciplinary subjects like composting, recycling, salvage, and waste to energy, etc.
2. Make Resource Management an essential public service, not a for-profit industry.
Maine’s primary focus of Resource Management is to reduce waste. The primary focus of for-profit waste management services is to increase input to increase profits by the most effective tactic available (META) which is landfill.
These are diametrically opposing viewpoints and cannot exist together if Maine wishes to reduce volume of discarded materials currently diverted to incineration and/or landfill.
The current model of Resource Management, with Recycling, Waste to Energy/Incineration and Landfill at the core, necessitates expensive, lengthy transportation conduits to import materials for processing. 
For-profit waste management services vie for territory, impose non-compete contracts for members and import waste into Maine to satisfy shareholders. 
If material is sent to a central hub to process then all Resource Management materials are funneled through that one facility which is vulnerable to impairments (breakdown, over-capacity, maintenance) causing ‘bypass’ to landfill as with what happened, from 2020-2023, to Coastal Resources in Hampden owned by the Municipal Review Committee (MRC). 
The current estimated time of full operation of the newly named Municipal Waste Solutions is late 2025. That’s five years of bypass to Juniper Ridge and Crossroads landfill by the MRC.
Instead, Resource Management should focus on getting smaller and more localized rather than larger to divert profits to the handful of waste managements services in Maine. 
Diversified systems are more sustainable and resilient to change but are not profitable for the for-profit industry. Yet they serve the public need for access to reclaimable materials by diverting them from the waste stream to start with. 
Resource Management systems could be more like a web with interconnections between Resource Management Cooperatives (RMC), sharing resources but with no centralized conduit, allowing distribution of materials over the cooperative and beyond, eliminating materials from unnecessary processing.
In order to truly reduce materials destined for landfill, we need to make Resource Management less anonymous, less convenient. As a society, we need to be made aware of the impacts of our addiction to convenient, disposable resources.
The first step in addiction recovery is to admit there is a problem. The solutions Maine is currently employing in Resource Management are enabling the public to deny the impacts of convenient disposal and taking us farther away from our goal of zero waste.
Circular economy is not possible under the current system because we keep making the circles larger to enable our consumptive lifestyles.
The current system is not working; instead what were once common practices like reuse, repurpose and recycling have dwindled because they are not profitable.
3. Local Control - Resource Management Cooperatives (RMC)
Define RMC territories with flexible boundaries defined by need and resources rather than static physical geographic locations. As trends evolve, hopefully for the better, the areas will need less and less administrative effort and shrink in scope but not in service.
State subsidized - The state should fund establishing RMC’s including funding for equipment for initial startup: storage, material handling equipment (including scales), and staffing by expanding DEP grants.
Reward good stewardship with more funding to expand services. 
Penalize poor stewardship with fines and a possible takeover by state agencies putting additional cost on to the local taxpayers.
Collaboration between RMC’s expands eligibility for programs like the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
4. Communication:
Preserving and Expanding Resource Management services and facilities, Fostering Community Driven Resource Management Efforts, Eliminating Predatory contracts, Discussing the risks of Global Migration of permits and licenses, Waste Management Monopolies and Environmental Justice should have a place in any conversation about Resource Management all around Maine.

The number one issue stakeholders’ brought up at the recent DEP Waste Management Plan meetings is the need for communication between communities and the DEP. The low attendance at the stakeholders’ meetings reflects the challenge of informing the public in a timely and effective manner on important ways to participate in molding Resource Management policies and practices and sharing resources between towns and cooperatives, like the League of Towns in the Acadia area.
Attached is the letter to Governor Mills from the League of Towns asking for state intervention to assist them in finding Resource Management solutions.

I had hoped that these stakeholders' meetings would help to unify the citizens of Maine so we can present a common front and work together, rather than isolating regions with no co-mingling of information. But each meeting was held in a stand-alone environment with no publishing of recordings online for public review. 

We are stronger if we know what other communities are doing to better Resource Management in our own areas, and learn from each other, rather than chasing the tailpipe of problems repeating the same mistakes. This was repeatedly brought up at meetings.

The DEP could use social media to communicate with the public in regular, informal town meetings to address current concerns and trends. The DEP does not need to attend meetings in person with the use of video chat or even conference calls. This duty could be handled by interns and work study students who have a more relevant grasp of effective technology use. 

So, more online meetings on a regular basis between RMC’s and the DEP but less DEP staff needed except for oversight and to address policy questions.

Facebook or YouTube live and Zoom are free, or affordable, and could be used on a regular basis to provide continuous feedback between DEP and RMC’s. 

To start, monthly, bimonthly or even quarterly meetings might be needed until relationships develop and strengthen between cooperatives which should require less and less of a DEP presence. The role of the DEP should be facilitator, not enabler, to encourage cooperatives to self-administer, looking for DEP input only when making policy or organizational changes.
5, Transportation
Transportation of MSW is expensive and drives up operating costs. Curbside pick up is a luxury we cannot afford. Eliminate curbside pick up (except twice a year [spring and fall cleanup] for oversized, bulky items) that necessitates trucking entire routes on specific days, regardless of need. 
Instead, non-MSW material could be trucked from local, multiple transfer stations as needed, instead of a weekly schedule, reducing costs. Create multiple transfer stations based on population, volume and proximity - for simplified collection of useful materials except MSW.  
Make the end user responsible for transportation of MSW to the processing center. Charge the end user by weight instead of container, encourage participation in free waste diversion efforts since food, metal, glass, liquids and batteries, etc. weigh more.
Base the MSW disposal fee on the cost to process. Ex: cost of storage container, transportation, payroll for staffing, labor, tipping fees and any other costs associated with disposal rather than diversion would fall upon the end users rather than the taxpayers. 
Provide free alternate pathways for resource allocation to encourage reduction of Pay as You Throw disposal. Cost for free services may be absorbed by the municipalities’ tax base and offset by funds gathered from the sale of recycling, salvage, and donations for used furniture, building materials, appliances and equipment, etc.
Food waste, and non-recyclable materials would go directly to the processing center and ‘useful’ materials would be distributed to local transfer stations and allocated to proper facilities for reuse, repurposing, repair, recycling, etc. free from contamination.
Sharing transportation costs to reclamation sites, landfills and incineration will keep costs down for individual towns.
4. Environmental Justice
Resource recovery should be located within the area served. Therefore the appropriate placement of MSW services, especially incinerators, waste to energy plants and landfills, should reside within the area that most creates that waste. Ex: ecomaine is a member-owned facility rather than a contractual arrangement between owners and clients. Ecomaine has recycling, WTE and landfill capabilities.
Resource Management is entirely different for urban areas, which are densely populated and create most of our in-state and out-of-state waste. 
Rural Maine bears the burden of urban waste disposal by hosting landfills and other inappropriate methods of the current Waste Disposal systems.
The urban solution is to send it away, out of sight, so the impact of disposable products used on a daily basis is foisted onto their rural neighbors.
Rural Mainers, who live on and own 97% of Maine's land are subject to the same green washing solutions imposed by the 3% of urban areas that buy into the currently unattainable goals of zero waste, recycling for profit and the beneficial effects of waste to energy, all the while utilizing the very resource criticized as a primary waste option: landfills. 
Rather than having a one size fits all philosophy, let each RMC find its own solutions for waste management. Let the residents decide who to partner with and how to best manage materials based on what the area finds valuable and sustainable.
Every municipality must bear the responsibility of its own waste. Each RMC must be sized to reflect their population and host their own waste solutions, including landfills.
We must all share the burden and benefits of hosting our own Resource Management facilities.
Take the profit out of this essential public service so the Waste Hierarchy becomes attainable.

5. The Maine State Waste Hierarchy

From Maine Materials Management Plan
State Solid Waste Management and Recycling Plan 2019 – Pg 3
Reduce:
Redefine what is considered ‘useful’ by dividing materials into groups. Ex: salvage, building materials, clothing, used furniture, electronics, appliances, etc. rather than lumping everything together in a single stream system.
Divert funds to allow transportation from multiple local transfer stations rather than curbside pickup. 
MSW should be taken by the end user to a disposal site specifically for processing. Charge for any plastic bags used as waste containers; they will have to be separated and someone will be compensated for this additional work.

Reuse: 
Reuse is defined as materials used for the original purpose. There seems to be no place for salvage or Too Good to Toss items in the current Waste Management Plan. 
This is a missed opportunity for reclaiming items that are still useable for their original purpose. Appliances, building supplies, decorative materials like paint, furniture, clothing, equipment, etc. could all be set aside to extend their lifespan and avoid special handling. Creative thinking can make use of others’ unwanted items.
Repurpose (should be added to Hierarchy)
Repurpose is defined as discarded materials used for purposes not originally intended. Re-design projects abound on YouTube, Mother Earth News and many Do It Yourself (DIY) mediums. Tiny Homes, greenhouses, chicken tractors, home décor and even art make use of discarded materials. 
This philosophy is reflected in building trends, fashion, and ‘down home’ practices seen in today’s society. All that is needed is some inspiration and outlets for the public to browse for materials to take advantage of current momentum.
Recycle
Recycle is defined as materials processed to be reused as other products that may or may not be the same as the original purpose. There is so much misinformation on recycling and dwindling resources to take advantage of recycled materials due in part to Single Stream waste and No Sort recycling management practices. 
Market drops and contamination mixed in with valid recyclables have made recycling too expensive to process for for-profit services encouraging landfill or incineration.
Curbside pickup for mixed recyclables encourages “wish cycling” mentality where anything made from plastic is assumed to be recyclable. 
If Maine is to reach its goal of 50% recycling then we have to pre-sort clean materials to submit for sale or repurposing. Pre-sorted recyclable materials could then be sold to markets specifically designed for this purpose.
Compost
Composting sites could be divided between public and private land. Effort must be made to ensure that the public is aware of the benefits and risks of using anonymous contributions of organics into the compost system. Industrial and Yard waste organics may contain harmful chemicals (as we saw with WW sludge and PFAS), invasive plant/insect species and caution should be used when applying them as a soil amendment. 
Maine’s Food Recovery Hierarchy lists Composting as the third option for removing organics from the waste stream. I recently received an email regarding a study to remove organics from the waste stream: 2023 Food Loss and Waste Generation Study, RFP# 202308174
The links in this email go to a Request For Proposals (RFP) from vendors to study the problem. https://www.maine.gov/dafs/bbm/procurementservices/vendors/rfps
There is no place for public input. 
For additional information on how to participate, or submit comments as a private citizen, contact: 
David R. Madore, Deputy Commissioner david.madore@maine.gov
Mark King, Organics Management Specialist mark.a.king@maine.gov
As someone who grew up on a farm in rural Maine, and who lives in a rural area next to Juniper Ridge Landfill, I believe the rural areas do not have a food waste problem that heavily impacts the waste stream. Those of us who have livestock and land have our own food hierarchy: people, pets/livestock, wildlife, and land.
The solution for adhering to the Food Waste Hierarchy lies in education and industry practices to get the public to change habits and is beyond the scope of this paper.
Perhaps DEP town meetings online may afford the state with options from locals that are site specific. But each RMC must decide on how best to address Food Recovery on a local level.
Waste to Energy
The WTE plant in the Bangor area, Penobscot Energy Recover Company (PERC), closed this summer. The plant is up for auction that has been postponed three times. 
The date now is Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 11AM
The state should intervene and acquire PERC to serve the pubic benefit as a state-owned facility. The plant could serve as an educational and research facility for Resource Management practices and work in tandem with UMaine and other educational institutions to develop more sustainable, environmentally friendly practices.
Currently there are no options in the Bangor area and northern Maine for WTE or incineration to reduce MSW volume before landfill. (Attached: “Creating the Penobscot Educational and Resource Recovery Cooperative (PERRC)”)
Landfills:
Landfill is the final rung of the waste hierarchy in Maine. But we will always need some sort of landfill until technology reaches a point where all materials can be redirected. 
We are at a pivotal moment for waste management in the Bangor area with three major resources collapsing: PERC is closed and may be dismantled for salvage, JRL is reaching its capacity prematurely and is unstable, Coastal Resources/Municipal Waste Solutions shut down in 2020 and will not be operational at least until December 2025.
Dwindling landfill capacity, waste to energy plant closures (WTE), PFAS/PFOS contaminated waste water treatment sludge, land and water have all reached a tipping point at the same time, leaving our area even more vulnerable to the predatory practices of the for-profit waste management services.
Yet there seems to be no Plan to open up new state-owned landfills which are needed. Having only 1 state-owned landfill made sense when we believed 5 years ago that the public would embrace the waste hierarchy. But for-profit waste management services have discouraged waste diversion from landfill.
The predatory behavior of for-profit waste management services exploiting loopholes (allowing the importation of waste), the state’s approval of landfill expansions, and despite outcry and years of effort by concerned citizens to change legislation that simply gets reversed by entities like Casella, (essentially extorting the state into submission), has left the populace discouraged, apathetic and frustrated.
Lack of action on the part of the state to intervene or to scout out and Plan for new state-owned landfills is negligent at best. There needs to be a Plan to begin development of new state-owned landfills located in the regions they will serve.
If municipalities exhaust landfill capacity by refusing to follow the waste hierarchy then their landfill capacity should be expanded to accommodate their waste within their locale. If citizens pay high rates to dispose of their waste and are forced to watch their landfill grow, as we in the shadow of Juniper Ridge Landfill do, then maybe they will change their wasteful behavior.

6. The DEP’s Role

The 2024 Plan should include ways the DEP could facilitate grant writing workshops for developing:
•	Resource Management Cooperatives
o	Based on population
o	Incumbent resources 
o	Proximity
•	Funding for Equipment/Services
•	Developing an online network of RMC’s 
o	Resources
•	Recycling 
•	Salvage
•	Too Good to Toss
•	Construction and Demolition
•	Organics/Composting
•	Food Surplus
•	Garden Supplies (seeds, starts, soil)
o	Social Media presence
•	Ongoing communication
•	Events
•	Electronic recycling
•	Repair cafes
•	Education
•	Food = Growth, Harvest, Preparation, Preservation
•	Composting
o	Online database displaying drop off or pick up locations for:
•	Furniture
•	Building materials
•	Appliances
•	Electronics
•	Education - You're never too young or too old to learn proper Resource Management. We can begin with schools teaching young people the effects of throwing things "away" (The Story of Stuff https://www.storyofstuff.org/ ). 
ecomaine has an excellent website with an interactive quiz, virtual tours and a searchable database (https://www.ecomaine.org/what-can-be-recycled/recyclopedia/# ) to learn proper disposal. They also have educational outreach and are proud to show off their facilities which they constantly seek to improve. 
•	Acquiring Resource Recovery Facilities for public ownership/management
o	PERC for Waste to Energy, incineration and storage of processed recycling for transport
o	State-owned Landfill locations that serve only the area in which they reside
o	Decommissioned municipal landfill sites for salvage, TGtT, building material storage. Think flea market model rather than dump.
•	Public Scrutiny with full transparency including full view of a landfill from public roads and homes. This would put public pressure on landfill managers and bring home the need for waste diversion alternatives.
•	Public Awareness
o	Alerts for environmental events
o	Immediate notification of violations through web or phone alerts
•	The DEP has failed to notify the public in a timely manner of harmful environmental events.
•	ND Paper – leak of Sodium Hydroxide into the Penobscot (2yrs before public notification by news outlets)
•	JRL fire (no public notification by officials – scant news coverage)
•	Ecomaine purple plume (public reporting)
The DEP should set up an online reporting system for the public to report violations/concerns into a database with transparent public viewing. This way the public could drive the narrative and add their input in a real-time, data driven method expanding data collection for the DEP with very little administrative effort.
End of life plans

The new Resource Management Plan should provide for Renewable Energy Equipment – Personal use to Industrial size ('farms') projects. Where will this equipment go? How will it be decommissioned and disposed of?
•	Transmission corridors - Aroostook Renewable Gateway
o	Disposal method unknown
•	Onshore Wind Farms - Pine Tree Wind Farm - Aroostook County
o	170 – 350 Towers with 3 Turbine blades per tower
o	Current method of disposal - Landfill
•	Lifespan estimate 20 years (5 year warranty on blades)
•	Possibly contain PFAS and BPA in blades
•	Microplatic and Epoxy microparticle leading edge erosion
•	Up to 350lbs / year / tower
o	Blades and towers not recyclable
o	Turbine components up 83% Recyclable
o	Can be refurbished (“Repowered”) instead of installing new
•	Offshore Wind Farms - Casco Bay - Southern Maine
•	Lifespan estimate 20 years (5 year warranty on blades)
•	Possibly contain PFAS and BPA in blades
•	Microplatic and Epoxy microparticle leading edge erosion
•	Up to 350lbs / year / tower
o	Blades and towers not recyclable
o	Turbine components up 83% Recyclable
o	Can be refurbished (“Repowered”) instead of installing new
•	Solar Panels - Industrial and end user level
o	Contain PFAS
o	Current method of disposal Landfill
o	Not recyclable
•	Hydrokinetics – Dam conversions, River and Tidal turbines
o	Up to 100% recyclable
Conclusion: 
When the 2019 Maine Materials Management Plan was developed the world was a different place. We had yet to go through a global pandemic, accelerating climate change and ubiquitous toxic chemicals like PFAS contaminating our environment.

Since the end of 2019 we have seen microplastic proliferation, the expansion of electric dependant devices (Lithium), landfills and waste treatment facilities dealing with toxic sludge, increase of food containers, home deliveries of meals, groceries, medicines and online shopping. These along with disposable medical and cleaning supplies are overwhelming our current methods of management.

The Plan must change to adapt to changing challenges. Perhaps Materials Management should be treated as a separate entity from the DEP to acquire additional funding and staffing specifically to meet these challenges. It is overwhelming and the state should provide the resources to adequately cope with current and future needs.

Otherwise we will always be chasing the tailpipe of problems instead of preventing them from happening in the first place. Society needs a paradigm shift in thinking of what constitutes value and worth. We must find common ground between the rural and urban lifestyles and stop the finger pointing and NIMBY mentalities.

We are all in this together. Let’s work together on solutions.
We must do better.
Kat Taylor
Argyle Twp.

Letter to the Governor – The League of Towns
 https://theqsjournal.substack.com/p/new-state-law-bolsters-workforce?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email 

Acadia area towns ask governor for help on regional waste disposal 

MOUNT DESERT - The League of Towns, consisting of Bar Harbor, Cranberry Isles, Ellsworth, Lamoine, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Swans Island, Tremont, Trenton and Acadia National Park, is asking Gov. Janet Mills for a statewide solution to regional waste disposal challenges wrought by the loss of the incinerator plant in Orrington and the restarting of the Hampden waste-to-energy plant two years away. 

MD Town Manager Durlin Lunt, league chair, wrote, 
“Solid waste disposal is an issue that is now beyond the capacity to be resolved solely at the local level, therefore we urge that the State of Maine become more active in partnering with organizations such as the Acadia Area League of Towns to craft a viable Statewide program to address this problem before it reaches critical mass.” 

Garbage from all the towns is now trucked to landfills, the lowest priority on the waste management hierarchy, except for a sprinkling of recycling. 

The Orrington plant was foreclosed earlier this year and is scheduled for a public auction Aug. 29 after two postponements. The Hamden plant has a new owner and operator but will take 18 months to two years to reach full operations. And even then it’s still considered experimental as it has never completed a full year of operation successfully. 

Lunt stated that the impending loss of the incinerator plant, the limited lifetimes of area landfills, the high costs of recycling, “coupled with the possible opening of the Municipal Review Committee facility in Hampden delayed until at least 2025 has placed our communities at risk of not having a viable solid waste disposal option in the very near future.” 
“Such short term state efforts could include but not be limited to, identifying, and siting new landfill facilities at geographically strategic locations around Maine pending more environmentally friendly permanent solutions.” 

Lunt said he is awaiting a response from the governor.

Creating the Penobscot Educational and Resource Recovery Cooperative (PERRC)

Kat Taylor

Monday, July 13, 2023

To Whom It May Concern:

I've been reading through the state's Maine Materials Management Plan State Solid Waste Management and Recycling Plan 2019 update in preparation for the stakeholders' meetings on materials management rule changes and found several instances of Waste to Energy and incineration as a method of reducing the volume of materials destined for landfill.

https://umaine.edu/mitchellcenter/

According to the State Solid Waste Management and Recycling Plan, incineration/Waste to Energy (WtE) sits higher on the hierarchy before landfill. 

Since the original publication of the Plan, we have seen the closure of the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company (PERC), Maine Energy Recovery Company (MERC), REenergy and other incinerators until there are no options for us in the Bangor and the surrounding areas and to the north. In addition to PERC, ecomaine operates an incinerator in Portland. The third incinerator, operated by the Mid Maine Waste Action Corporation, is located in Auburn.

The DEP must encourage the state to take over the PERC plant in Orrington to be a state owned incinerator/Waste to Energy (WtE).  With landfills at or near capacity, it is the state's obligation to intercede when facilities face closure due to economic or environmental impacts which will greatly reduce a region's ability to comply with the state waste hierarchy.

The state could retrofit PERC to be a viable, environmentally safer, publicly owned option for reducing the amount of MSW to landfill through incineration, WTE and as a waste diversion transfer facility offering municipalities a low cost alternative to for-profit owned companies who mandate a quota of MSW to remain viable. This service to communities, and the electricity created by the plant, would most likely be enough to support rebooting efforts.

The 40+ acre licensed facility might also serve as temporary storage for salvage and recycling materials destined for processing and market, plus incinerate any un-recyclable materials, reducing their volume, destined for landfill as dictated in the waste hierarchy. 

Appendix B – Maine’s solid waste management and food recovery hierarchies
E. Waste processing that reduces the volume of waste needing land disposal, including incineration

PERC could be a temporary holding facility for local Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)/Construction and Demolition Debris (CDD) and recycling destined for facilities that are closed for maintenance, repair or are over capacity helping to eliminate the need for bypass.

Bypass takes up the first 17 pages of the Juniper Ridge Landfill’s May 2023 Monthly Special Waste Activity Report dated June 15th the majority of which comes from Coastal Resources/Municipal Waste Solutions (Municipal Review Committee - MRC) and PERC located in Hampden and Orrington respectively.
https://www.maine.gov/dafs/bgs/sites/maine.gov.dafs.bgs/files/inline-files/0523%20JRL%20Waste%20Activity%20Report.pdf 

The bypass material could be used to test research ideas for sustainable methodologies in a real world environment while providing income to pay staff and keep current on property taxes. There is also a great quantity of MSW stored at the PERC plant waiting for the new owner to dispose of. Incineration would greatly reduce the volume of this waste making it less of an impact on JRL.

PERC is a resource that should not be shuttered or scrapped simply because it needed a state subsidy to remain financially viable. Competition from private waste management services diverted money from going to PERC by locking their members into predatory contracts that mandate MSW quotas and penalize any efforts to reduce waste in their regions. Hancock County diverted some of their waste to the PERC plant instead of JRL and Crossroads and was fined $60,000 by MRC. 
Waste management is only a profitable business because for-profit companies make a concerted effort to acquire or starve out any competition and import out-of-state waste.

It is the responsibility of the DEP and the state to retain such facilities if they hope to achieve adherence to the Maine state waste hierarchy's goals. Communities must have an affordable alternative public option to dispose of any local waste they cannot address because incineration and recycling equipment may not be allowed or feasible for them. 

PERC could be a publicly owned option for municipalities while they work out their local waste solutions, train materials management personnel and could be used regionally to provide a much needed service focused on the public benefit rather than on profit. 

PERC is located on the Penobscot River, has train tracks running immediately off property providing additional possible transportation opportunities (like transporting wood based biomass from the north), rerouting transportation by rail instead of public roads. 

PERC also could be used as campus for university and college engineering and sustainable solutions students around the state and beyond. We discussed the importance of education at the last three DEP stakeholders' meetings and all agree that it is vital to making progress in materials management. 

Part of students’ education could be continually monitoring water quality and environmental impact of PERC, as well as current and defunct dumps, giving the DEP more data with which to determine action needed; essentially expanding the DEP footprint without additional permanent staffing. Lack of DEP staffing was mentioned at the Machias meeting as an impediment to ongoing monitoring and outreach. Students could provide boots on the ground in outreach, community input and on site assistance for municipalities in determining their site specific need. Creating a cooperative of communities, educational institutions and the state would benefit all.

Partnering with educational institutions would allow the state to take advantage of Research Assistantships, Assistant/Adjunct Professors and Work Study for less money than hiring permanent DEP and other state employees. An added benefit is the ability to screen students/trainees who may be considering a career in Materials Management and Resource Recovery for the state or municipalities, providing a much needed workforce in Maine.

This campus could be a springboard for innovation in Materials Management and Resource Recovery for the future, incorporating the Mitchell Center, which participated in prior Plans, as a resource and serve as an educational focal point for sustainable studies of all types.

From the Mitchell Center website on Materials Management:

•	Summarizing the complex history of waste management in Maine to avoid past mistakes and learn from past successes; 
•	Engage stakeholders and create a map of stakeholder barriers, needs, and opportunities; 
•	Bring together groups to identify solutions that are focused on policy and guided by research; 
•	Carry out research to fill identified information gaps; 
•	Find ways to innovate around lessons from Maine’s deep culture of thrift, ingenuity and reuse; 
•	Form groups to work on projects, policy proposals, and other methods to shape the end-destination of materials in the waste stream.

https://umaine.edu/mitchellcenter/materials-management/ 
Mitchell Center Contacts:
Cynthia Isenhour, Ph.D. cynthia.isenhour@maine.edu
Travis Blackmer   travis.blackmer@umit.maine.edu 

Hands on training and experience are the most effective educational methods and may develop personal investment in students, fostering continued involvement.

Making an investment now while the state has the resources, both local and federal, will be money well spent on our environment and young people. Materials Management and Resource Recovery are going to need creative approaches, consistent with local needs, and involvement in local materials management issues; MMRR is a good career choice for Maine students, possibly keeping them in Maine, or if not here, then taking what they learn to other areas in the nation and the world. 

Please take the time to look through the images on the auction site and consider acquiring the PERC plant for public and educational benefit and re-branding it as an educational resource and local public solution for waste diversion and resource recovery: 
Penobscot Educational and Resource Recovery Cooperative (PERRC)

The PERC plant is going up for auction on August 9, 2023 at 11 a.m.
https://keenanauction.com//auction.cgi?i=5217 

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/06/10/news/bangor/orrington-penobscot-energy-recovery-company-sale-joam40zk0w/

“The plant, located on 44 acres off River Road, also known as Route 15, is assessed by the town at about $13 million for tax purposes. It owes more than $370,000 in taxes to Orrington for 2021 and 2022. PERC has not sought abatement for either year, Orrington town manager Chris Backman said.”

“If the plant were to cease operations entirely and not restart after a sale, Orrington would face two problems — the loss of tax revenue and the payment of tipping fees to the Hampden waste facility (MRC) once it resumes operations or to the state-owned Old Town landfill (JRL).

“That landfill (JRL), which is being expanded this year, accepted 933,649 tons of waste last year. That equated to roughly four years of remaining capacity.” DEP Deputy Commissioner David Madore said.

DEP ContactS:
Commissioner – Melanie Loyzim (207) 287-7688
Email: Melanie.Loyzim@maine.gov

Deputy Commissioner - David Madore (207) 287-5842 
Email: david.madore@maine.gov

Contact: Orrington Town Manager, Chris Backman: (207) 825-3340 
Email: manager@orrington.org 

	Contact:  PERC Plant Manager, Henry Lang: (207) 825-4566

The cost benefit would be pennies on the dollar for the state to acquire such a valuable resource.  

The true cost deficit is in losing a materials management facility to the scrapyard or current for-profit waste management businesses that do little or nothing to stem the tide of waste going to landfills, which is much more profitable, or educate the public on how to reduce waste, which costs them money.

The state must act now to intercede before this materials management resource is lost to the people of Maine.

We must do better.

Thank you for your time

Kat Taylor
Argyle Twp.