WALDOBORO — Over 50 people from the towns of Cushing, Friendship and Waldoboro attended the May 3 meeting of the Waldoboro Transfer Station Committee. The committee had sought public input for strategies to address the burgeoning transfer station budget, which is set to cross $1 million for the first time. 

Currently, residents and commercial enterprises of the three towns take their garbage and recycling to the Waldoboro Transfer Station. The service is paid through property tax with no cost to the individual user. 

But that may change this year as rising costs have pushed the operating budget to a record high. In an April 9 Facebook post, the Transfer Station announced the fee for dumping trash has increased from $77 to $90 per ton in six years.

 The post also states that overall trash has increased from 2,500 tons to 3,500 tons since 2016. 

During the Jan. 24 Waldoboro Transfer Station Committee meeting, board members and Public Works Director John Daigle discussed the the upcoming financial year.  

“People are throwing out more, not less,” said Bob Butler, a Waldoboro’s Select Board member and representative on the Transfer Station Board.

“We ran into a problem with Covid; trash went up tremendously,” said Daigle.

Revenue, however, has not kept pace with costs.

Daigle has found that most towns around Waldoboro charge “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT). Under this model, garbage must be collected in specific labeled bags. The bags are sold for a set fee at the transfer stations and local businesses. The fee pays for the service and incentivizes payers to reduce their own waste. 

Butler recalled that when PAYT was on the ballot in 2016, it was, “shot down by voters big time, they did not want anything to do with it.”

“If people recycled as they should, we would be even,” said Daigle. “With pay-as-you-throw, a lot of people would save money.”

When asked, Daigle said “younger people” were contributing to the problem by forgoing recycling.  

“The older people, it’ll be pouring rain, they’ll come right up and sort recycling…younger people could have recycling sorted, but if it’s pouring rain, they back up to the [trash] bin,” he said.

The increase in operating costs excludes the potential replacement of two trailers, which may be at least partially paid for with reserve funds, but will cost upwards of $100,000. Altogether, “The facility is getting old,” said Daigle. 

Waldoboro Town Manager Julie Keizer moderated the May 3 committee meeting, Residents asked questions, voiced frustration, and offered some ideas. Daigle, standing at a a podium, responded to comments.

He said proving single stream service (where users collect all types of recyclables in one container) would cost over $250,000 in start up fees. Even then, contamination is such a pervasive problem that it could cost more in the long run. Daigle said Wiscasset upgraded their facilities and ran the program, but lost so much money over time that they ended single stream.

Daigle said that other towns which have implemented pay-as-you-throw faced an increase in illegal dumping for three months before it returned to the previous levels.

Keizer said this will be the first of many meetings to be held over the summer to talk about options for reducing the volume of trash.

For more information, call 832-5369 or go to waldoboromaine.org.