MONMOUTH – Herb Whittier was honored for his contributions to recycling in Monmouth with the 2008 eco-Excellence Award given annually by ecomaine.

Whittier was nominated by Julie Sawtelle, public library director; Town Manager Curt Lunt; and the Monmouth selectmen.

In their nomination letter, they said, “Herb’s recycling initiatives have proven to be very effective in saving the town money and reducing the waste stream.”

Whittier is the Monmouth director of public works and recently installed a single-sort recycling system at the town’s transfer station that saved Monmouth $2,839 in three months.

A luncheon was held at the ecomaine offices in Portland to honor the winners from all 26 participating municipalities. Each winner was awarded a framed certificate, a 2008 Sunrise Guide and a fleece jacket made from recycled plastic bottles.

Ecomaine is a municipally-owned nonprofit organization, which owns the only single-sort recycling facility built in Maine. It also owns and operates a landfill/ashfill and a waste-to-energy plant that produces electricity. Each of the three facilities is certified by the International Standards Organization for excellence in environmental management.

Twenty-one communities are owners of ecomaine, seven more have 20-year contracts and another three have short-term recycling contracts; all 31 communities were eligible to participate in the 2008 eco-Excellence Awards.

The recognition luncheon also included a tour of the $3.7 million single-sort recycling system that opened less than a year ago and included an exchange of ideas among the eco-Excellence winners.

Winners of the awards were chosen from the nominations received by members of the ecomaine recycling committee. For more information about recycling, visit www.ecomaine.org.