Biddeford residents who repeatedly put items in recycling bins that don’t belong there can lose the service and be in the position of leasing a bigger trash bin, city officials said. In the past year, Biddeford has paid nearly $55,000 in fees due to contaminated recycling. John Patriquin/Portland Press Herald Photo
BIDDEFORD — Residents of Biddeford who repeatedly put items out for recycling that are not part of the program may have their recycling services revoked at their third infraction.
The Biddeford City Council approved an amendment to the city’s recycling ordinance at a recent meeting.
According to Biddeford spokeswoman Danica Lamontagne, the city has paid $54,091 in fees in the past year for contaminated recyclables — common problems are items in recycling bins being contaminated with food, or containing trash, electronics, or plastic bags.
“Recycling contamination can cause good, clean recyclable items to end up in the trash, which makes it more expensive to operate the recycling program,” Lamontagne said. The latest audit by Casella Waste Management showed a recycling contamination rate of 19.4 percent, she noted. At that contamination rate, the city pays a fee of $31.99 per ton of contaminated recycling.
The amendment to the recycling ordinance enables the Public Works Department to revoke recycling services from repeat offenders in a three-strike system.
“This change isn’t intended to punish those who make a small accident when judging whether or not something is recyclable,” said Biddeford Public Works Director Jeff Demers. “This is a mechanism for our staff to be able to address those who use their recycling bin as a second trash can and are not even attempting to recycle correctly. When they misuse the system, these individuals are causing extra expenses for all other households who put in the time and effort to recycle correctly.”
The first and second times in a 12-month period that a recycling container is found contaminated, the container will not be emptied and the household will receive a notice explaining how to improve their recycling, Lamontagne said in a news release. The third time, a household will no longer receive recycling collection services and will be required to lease a larger trash bin and pay the associated fees. Currently, there is a $122 yearly fee for an upgraded trash can.
Casella requires all recyclables to be clean of any food, dry, and loose in the bin, Lamontagne said.
The Public Works Department, in partnership with Casella, has undertaken several efforts to refresh residents on the rules of the recycling program, including a bin-tagging exercise this summer to show residents how their recycling measured up to the rules of the program. Residents with too much contamination of recyclables did not have their bin emptied until non-recyclable items were cleaned up, city officials said.
“Remember, when you’re deciding whether to recycle something, the best philosophy to follow is ‘when in doubt, throw it out’,” Demers said. “You can also give us a call at Public Works at 207-282-1579 and we are happy to answer any questions you may have about whether or not a certain item is recyclable.”
The new recycling ordinance will go into effect in 30 days from passage on Oct. 18. A printable list of accepted recyclables can be found on the City of Biddeford website at www.biddefordrecycles.org.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
