HAMPDEN, Maine — If you live in one of the 115 cities and towns in Maine using a "one bin, all in" policy, you might not know where the waste has been ending up in the last few weeks.
Up until last week, it was sent to the Fiberight plant in Hampden. The company opened last fall, sorting trash and recyclables allowing residents to put all their waste in just one trash can or trash ban. The plant recycled what it could and the rest was turned into energy or disposed of.
On May 28, the plant temporarily suspended operations because the company doesn't have proper funding.
Now more than 100 communities' waste is being sent to landfills. Bill Lippincott is part of Don't Waste Maine, an advocacy group upset that all the waste is heading to landfills rather than going to safer alternatives.
“I think the public needs to know that’s not happening right now," Lippincott said about people thinking Fiberight is still up and running. “What’s going to happen with this waste? Is it all going to keep going to Juniper Ridge.”
Jupiter Ridge Landfill in Old Town is where Lippincott says all the waste is being dumped.
Ed Spencer is another member of Don't Waste Maine. He said sending waste to landfills should be the last option.
"We're supposed to be doing everything we can to avoid landfilling waste because once it's there, it's basically there forever," Spencer said.
"We're in a pandemic right now, we're talking about raw trash. There's an executive order from our Governor's saying we should treat waste right now in the most biologically safe manner which would not be putting it in a landfill," Lippincott added.
Michael Carroll is the Executive Director of the Municipal Review Committee, a non-profit managing the customers of Fiberight.
“The Municipal Review Committee has been informed by the Coastal Resources of Maine plant that it is continuing to pursue a needed additional round of $14.7 million in funding to support plant improvements and cash flow," Carrol said in an email statement.
As the landfills continue to receive municipalities' waste, Carrol is confident the Fiberight plant will be back up and running.
"We are confident a new partner will see the benefits of this proven technology and, more important, of working with a 115-member strong organization that is committed to the long-term, environmentally sound disposal of municipal solid waste.”
Don't Waste Maine's solution is to send all waste to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company in Orrington.