PORTLAND (AP) – The state kicked off a new promotional and advertising campaign Monday that aims to get Mainers to recycle more trash.

The State Planning Office’s “Maine Recycles!” program includes new ads, a Web site, posters, brochures and other initiatives to get Mainers back on track toward the state’s goal of keeping half of the state’s waste from going into incinerators and landfills.

The Legislature in 1989 adopted a goal of 50 percent recycling. But as a whole, the state has never recycled more than 42 percent of its waste, and the rate has been below 40 percent in recent years.

Many communities have offered curbside recycling pickup for years. Some are now turning to single-sort recycling programs so that residents don’t have to sort their recyclables; instead, they can lump them all together and let others do the sorting.

That added convenience, along with an increased visibility of recycling statewide, should help see the recycling rate go up, said Shelley Dunn, spokeswoman for ecomaine, the Portland-based waste-disposal and recycling operation that is owned by 21 southern Maine communities.

The single-sort system is already boosting recycling rates and saving money, Dunn said.

Copy the Story Link