AUBURN — The city will move to phase out single-stream recycling for curbside pickup, favoring a dual sort program.

“The problem with a single-stream program is that it renders most of the commodities recycled practically worthless,” said Dom Casavant, chairman of the city’s Solid Waste Subcommittee. Broken glass from bottles and jars gets mixed in with paper and cardboard, and that reduces their value, Casavant said.

The solution is a dual sort program, he told councilors. Paper and cardboard would go into one bin, plastic, glass and metal would go in a second.

City Manager Glenn Aho said the dual sort program would be the one city staff would pursue, unless councilors objected at Monday’s meeting.

None did.

Auburn has contracted with Lewiston to take its sorted recyclables for several years. Auburn’s trucks would take its sorted paper, plastic, metal and glass to Lewiston’s landfill, where it would join other piles of sorted materials. That material was sold on the recycling commodities market, and Lewiston shared those revenues — minus some administrative costs — with Auburn.

But that deal ended in July, when Lewiston formally switched to single-stream recycling. Auburn began quietly testing single-stream recycling, picking up the sorted bins curbside and emptying them into a single hopper on the city’s truck. Auburn worked out a short-term deal with Lewiston to take Auburn’s recycling until the city settled on a permanent decision.

Casavant said continuing that program would cost $121,000. It requires one truck per day to complete the route.

The dual sort program will be more expensive, costing $128,000. It will need half-a-truck more to complete the daily route.

It offers a greater chance to grow, however. Auburn wouldn’t see any revenue from a single stream program. They city will contract with Almighty Waste on the dual sort program, sharing profits on the sale of the recycled goods.

The twice monthly schedule won’t change, however. Aho said the current schedule, collecting recyclables at some Auburn addresses on the first and third weeks of the month, others on the second and fourth weeks and  none on the fifth weeks, will continue.

“We had some problems when that first started, but we’ve worked it out now,” Aho said.

Councilor Dan Herrick said he was skeptical. He puts all of his trash in the municipal waste, sending it to the Mid-Maine Waste Action Corporation’s incinerator, where it’s burned to generate electricity.

“What can you tell me to tell the people of Auburn why this makes sense and saves more money,” Herrick said.

Casavant said it goes beyond money.

“Some decisions have to go beyond questions of the economy or politics,” Casavant said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

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