The state Board of Environmental Protection on Thursday ordered Poppy’s Redemption Center in Jay to close by May 1. The Franklin Journal file photo

AUGUSTA — Poppy’s Redemption Center in Jay will close Saturday following a state order to shut down by May 1.

The state Board of Environmental Protection on Thursday upheld an appeal filed by a Livermore Falls redemption center last year.

Kristin Workman, owner of Four Winds Too Redemption Center at 68 Main St. in Livermore Falls, who filed the appeal on Sept. 4, 2024, stated in documents that the population of Livermore Falls and Jay could not support two redemption centers within 2.2 miles of each other.

She also noted that her business has lost “significant” revenue since the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued the license to Poppy’s on July 22, 2024, which violated several parts of the state’s licensing criteria.

“It is unfortunate that the state issued a license that by law was unavailable,” Workman said about the decision Thursday. “The resolution was according to the law.”

This license allowed Poppy’s, at 246 Main St., to redeem empty beverage containers collected from consumers and tender them to initiators of deposit or their pickup agents in return for a 6-cent container handling fee.

Steve Barker, an owner of another redemption center who was not involved in the appeal, said his business — North Jay Redemption Center at 65 East Dixfield Road in North Jay — has also suffered since Poppy’s opened last July.

Residents in the area signed onto a petition in September 2024 to support Poppy’s license.

Susan Lessard, chairperson of the state Board of Environmental Protection, said she was struggling with the decision because Poppy’s owner invested money to open a business based on a permit issued by the DEP. She said it would end the business, and employees would be out of work.

“I’m struggling with that,” she said.

Four Winds argued that there is insufficient population to support the number of redemption centers in the area, that the state failed to consider the proximity to existing redemption centers during the licensing, and that sections for listing pickup agents and member dealer agreements were left blank on the license application, the board’s order said.

State law limits how many redemption centers may be licensed in municipalities based on population.

According to the BEP’s order, Jay has a population of 4,693. The town of Livermore Falls has just over 3,000 residents.

A department rule limits the number of licensed redemption centers in a municipality with a population of less than 5,000 to one.

In statute, it also provides exceptions to the population limits, including the following: “The department may grant a license that is inconsistent with the requirements … only if the applicant has demonstrated a compelling public need for an additional redemption center in the municipality.”

The application filed by Poppy’s left blank a section on “Title, Right, or Interest,” another labeled “Who picks up containers from you?,” and a section on “Member dealer agreements.”

The department deemed the application complete without requesting additional information from the applicant. When the department issued the license, it did not address in writing the licensing criteria or the exception noted above, the BEP order said.

Poppy’s owner, Art Vigue of Jay, said he didn’t fill in the information on the application because the state issues the permit and then chooses the vendor; he said it is like a trick question.

Vigue, who also owns the former Norm’s Redemption Center on Main Street in Wilton, said he is “furious” with the state for issuing the permit and he invested $50,000 in the Jay center to become a redemption center.

Vigue said he has “no bad will” against Four Winds Too Redemption Center or North Jay Redemption Center. He also said he previously owned Rolling Redemption at the same address in Jay as Poppy’s but closed it previously because there were too many redemption centers.

He posted on Poppy’s Facebook page that it will close Saturday. About an hour later, there were 52 comments on the post.