LEWISTON - A plan by a Casella Solid Waste subsidiary to bring 10 tons of unsorted recyclables to Lewiston in the next few weeks has city officials puzzled and town officials from Waterford anxious.

Officials from Waterford plan on using FCR Recycling, a division of Casella, to haul away their recyclables.

"They're bringing it somewhere in Lewiston - I really don't know where," said Tony Butterall, chairman of Waterford's transfer station committee.

Beth Young, a recycling consultant for FCR Recycling, originally said the company planned to deliver Waterford's recyclables to the Lewiston Solid Waste facility, where they would be held and then delivered to the company's Auburn, Mass., factory.

Casella is working with Lewiston on a pilot no-sort recycling program, and Young said Waterford's materials would be mixed in with recyclables from Lewiston.

Young later said Waterford's recyclables would not go to the Lewiston landfill, but to some other Casella site in Lewiston.

"It has not been fully decided, but there are a couple of other options," Young said. She would not say what the other options were.

Brian Oliver, regional vice president for the company, could not be reached for comment.

The Waterford agreement was a surprise to Lewiston officials. City Administrator Jim Bennett said the company does not have the city's permission to bring any recyclables to the Lewiston facility. The company operates a construction debris sorting facility, KTI Biofuels, on Plourde Parkway, but Bennett said he doesn't believe the company can use that as a recycling facility, either. The company leases that land from the city, and Bennett said his staff is reviewing the language of the lease.

"But as far as I understand it, the company can't do single-sort recycling at a facility that is not licensed by the state, and I don't believe there is another such facility in the city of Lewiston," Bennett said. "I'd speculate that whatever was said in the town of Waterford, it's not accurate."

Waterford selectmen were scheduled to sign the contract with Casella on Monday, but postponed that decision until later this month. Meanwhile, the town's recycling trailer is filling up.

"I hope they get something figured out soon," Butterall said. "Our first truckload is almost ready."

In March, Waterford voters agreed to move to no-sort recycling, which allows them to throw all kinds of recyclable material into a single bin. It's part of an effort to boost the town's recycling rate, according to Butterall.

"We've been using Oxford County recycling for the last 10 years, and they do a good job. They just don't do enough," Butterall said.

The Waterford transfer station serves Albany Township, Stoneham, Mason Township and Waterford. Users brought their recycling to the station and sorted the plastic bottles, newspapers and glass into the proper bins. Oxford County recycling collected those bins, and charged the four towns $6,000 per year.

According to the new deal, users can toss all of their recycling into a single bin and have it compacted on site. Voters agreed to purchase a $43,000 compactor for the job.

The towns will pay ABC Rubbish to haul a trailer, containing up to 10 tons of unsorted recycling, to a Casella sorting facility. From there, Casella will take the load to the company's Massachusetts recycling facility, where it will be sorted.

It isn't costing Waterford anything, beyond transportation costs.

"Casella pays to take it all, plus we don't have to put the rest of it into the waste stream," Butterall said. "We want to raise our recycling rate to about 25 or 30 percent, and that's trash we don't have to pay to dispose of."

Butterall said the town began collecting and compacting unsorted recycling on Aug. 5, the day the new compactor went online. He hasn't sent a load of recycling to Casella yet, but said he expects to in a few weeks.