Municipal Recycling

Transfer Development Corp. LLC has announced that it will build a recycling facility in Waterloo, Ind., to provide recycling and transfer services.

Construction of the facility, which is expected to cost $8.2 million, is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2007 and to be completed in March of 2008. Transfer Development Corp. plans to employ 85 people full-time at the facility by 2009.

The new facility will include two 40,000-square-foot buildings, one of which will house a baler and sorting area. The second 40,000-square-foot building will contain the metal buy-back center. Administrative offices and the scale office will be housed in a separate 3,000-square-foot building also to be constructed on the 60-acre site.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. will provide the company a grant of up to $35,000 to train Indiana resident employees, up to $220,000 of tax credits based on new full-time jobs and up to $350,000 of tax credits for qualified investment in the project. In addition, the Town of Waterloo will receive a grant of about $130,000 to assist with road improvements and extension of water and sewer to the building site.

The town of Waterloo, through the DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership, and the state of Indiana, through the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IDEC), are working to provide Transfer Development Corp. a package of performance-based incentives to assist with the project. The IDEC will provide the company with a grant of up to $35,000 to train Indiana employees, up to $220,000 of tax credits based on new full-time jobs and up to $350,000 in tax credits for qualities investment in the project. The town of Waterloo will receive a grant of roughly $130,000 to assist with road improvements and extension of water and sewer to the building site.

Transfer Development Corp. is part of IWM Consulting, an Indianapolis-based consulting firm providing environmental, in-plant and construction services.

The city of Louisville, Ky., is expanding its citywide recycling program to include plastics No. 3 through No. 7. The material will be accepted through curbside and condominium collections and at various drop-off locations

The city also is seeking to boost the overall participation rate for its curbside collection program and has taken the following steps:

• Private waste haulers will also include a tag line on their bills that encourages residents to sign up for curbside recycling or to take advantage of the city’s 17 drop-off locations.

Voters in Hollis, Maine, opted for curbside trash collection and mandatory recycling when they went to the polls this November, with 55 percent of residents selecting the option over curbside trash collection with voluntary recycling or a pay-per-bag option in combination with voluntary recycling.

According to Bob Fournier, chairman of the Hollis Recycling Committee, adopting the combination of curbside trash and recycling pickup is projected to lower the cost of trash disposal with regional non-profit solid waste agency Ecomaine once the town reaches a 30 percent recycling rate. The additional cost per household is estimated at $15 per year. The savings resulting from eliminating the use of "silver bullet" recycling containers at the transfer station is estimated to be $20,900.

The town of Scarborough will add curbside recycling to its services May 1, 2007, Town Manager Ron Owens says. "That date was selected because it’s the same day that Ecomaine will open its new, single-stream recycling facility." Ecomaine is investing $3.7 million in the plant.

Regarding the move to single-stream collection, Owens says, "The faster collection time lowers the cost of labor and reduces idling time."

Ecomaine’s 21 owner-communities are Bridgton, Cape Elizabeth, Casco, Cumberland, Falmouth, Freeport, Gorham, Gray, Harrison, Hollis, Limington, Lyman, North Yarmouth, Ogunquit, Portland, Pownal, Scarborough, South Portland, Waterboro, Windham and Yarmouth.