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Brewer to
Recycling Residents:
No More No. 2 Plastic
Residents accustomed to
throwing out plastic milk jugs, spring water jugs and laundry detergent bottles
in curbside recycling boxes that are picked up once a month in Brewer are being
advised by the city to stop the practice. Ken Locke, director of environmental
services, said the city's trash collector, Pine Tree Waste Services, has stopped
collecting No. 2 plastic such as that found in clear jugs as of July 1.
Residents may throw No. 2
plastics in the regular trash or bring the items to the city's recyclable
drop-off area on Elm Street, according to Locke.
The change in policy occurred
when the city requested a contract extension with Pine Tree, he said.
Pine Tree Waste Services agreed
to a two-year contract extension with the city of Brewer but inserted the "no
No. 2 plastic" stipulation because it is both costly and inefficient for the
company to keep up with the service, according to Locke.
The hard plastic jugs are bulky
and big and fill up trucks faster. Pine Tree drivers have to make extra trips to
empty their bins, which is considered inefficient by the company. The trucks
travel to the Bangor regional recycling facility on the Maine Road near Bangor
International Airport.
The practice of not picking up
No. 2 plastic will continue until at least June 30, 2005, when the contract
ends.
"We'll be going out for a new
contract for refuse collecting and recycling in early 2005 that will start July
1, 2005, and that contract will have No. 2 plastic in it," Locke said.
Locke said his department had
received quite a few calls from residents complaining about the change.
City officials expressed regret
at the relatively late notice of the change in the curbside recyclable
collection program.
A copyright story from the Bangor Daily News by Nancy
Garland, Of the NEWS Staff; Monday, July 14, 2003.
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