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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	May, 2007	Return to newsletter index

What does going to eco-maine mean to the City of Saco?

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In July of 2007, the City of Saco will start sending our garbage to eco-maine. The trucks that currently collect the City garbage at the curb will continue to do so, and your garbage and recycling collection days will remain the same.

There have been some rumors that the City will collect single stream recycling in July as well. This is not the case. In January of 2008, the City of Saco will have the option of changing our recycling program over to Single Stream Recycling.

Our current recycling program is considered dual stream, where the paper and other fiber products are sorted separately from our bottles and cans and other commingled containers. Right now, all of our paper typically goes to Haverhill, Mass. where it is not sorted, but all mixed together with cardboard and newspaper from other sources to make paperboard, which is the consistency of a cereal box. Our containers go to Eco-Maine; however, the City is not currently in a contract with Eco-Maine. Once there, our containers go through a machine that sorts most of the materials and the rest of the materials are sorted by hand. The reason the City won't switch to eco-maine right away for the recycling is because the City has a contract with Corcoran Environmental.

Eco-Maine is running their single stream sorting equipment right now for other eco-maine communities. And, because they have changed the way they sort recyclables, the City of Saco can now accept #1 through #7 plastics. This is great news for people who hate to throw away plastics. There are more and more items that are acceptable. For those of you wondering what the different types of plastics are, here you go:

• #1 Plastic soda bottles and soap containers
• #2 Plastic milk jugs, water jugs, detergent bottles
• #3 Plastic packaging and some containers
• #4 Plastic packaging, some containers, typically plastic bags
• #5 Plastic take out containers, yogurt cups, cottage cheese tubs, butter tubs, some Tupperware
• #6 Plastic food packaging, take out containers, plastic cups, coffee cup lids
• #7 Plastic cosmetics containers, heavy duty water bottles, plates and cups

We can recycle any kind of plastic that you find a recycling symbol on with a number inside of it!