AUGUSTA (AP) – A growing demand for recycled metal, plastic and paper a half a world away is pushing up prices for those materials in Maine.

Recyclers and communities that collect castoff materials that can be reused are getting higher prices as China’s economic boom spurs demand for materials used to make consumer goods in that country like televisions, refrigerators and ovens.

“They have such a hunger for raw materials,” said Victor Horton, executive director of the Bangor-based Maine Resource Recovery Association, a nonprofit trade association for more than 200 communities and about 70 recycling centers.

“They can’t produce enough and we’re easy pickings because we have the infrastructure to ship them,” said Horton.

Corrugated cardboard is fetching $95 per ton, up from $55 in January 2003, the association said.

Plastic used to make milk jugs is bringing in $420 a ton, up from a low of $130 a ton in 2002.

Steel cans were bringing in $145 a ton in March, up from $30 a ton 11 months ago.

The increased prices also translate into higher profits for companies that sort recycled materials, such as Ken-A-Set Association Inc. in Waterville, which sorts recycled materials for a half dozen communities and some large businesses.

Ken-A-Set, which also functions as an industrial workshop for six mentally retarded workers, will see a 30 percent increase in profits this year, Executive Director Fred Rovillard said.

Businesses and municipalities it serves will see similar increases in their shares, Rovillard said.

The higher prices being paid for recyclable goods collected by municipalities help to offset the cost of trash disposal in addition to reducing the volume of materials going to landfills, said George MacDonald, program manager for Maine State Planning Office’s Waste Management and Recycling Program.

While the demand for recycled materials spikes, recycling activity in some Maine communities is on the decline.

AP-ES-04-26-04 1412EDT