ecomaine
Business Directory
Maine! Do you know where your recycling and trash goes?
ecomaine provides comprehensive, long-term solid waste solutions in a safe, environmentally responsible, economically sound manner, and is a leader in raising public awareness of sustainable waste management strategies.
At ecomaine, we prioritize the solid waste hierarchy, which is guidance from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and enshrined in Maine state statute. We look to push waste up the hierarchy as far as possible: reduction of generated waste; reuse of resources; recycling and re-employing materials back into the marketplace; composting or digestion of organic waste; creating electricity via waste-to-energy; and landfilling as a last resort.
ecomaine uses sustainable recycling and solid waste practices at our three facilities in the Portland, Maine area: Maine's first single-sort recycling facility; our waste-to-energy power plant, which combusts Maine trash to generate electricity (all while controlling for pollution, reducing the volume of raw trash by 90%, and recovering scrap metal for recycling); and our landfill, where the ash from the waste-to-energy process is stored. Additionally, we are proud to have a full-time team devoted to education and outreach! We offer tours, presentations, resources, and activities for students, community groups, and anyone interested in learning more about where "away" is, when we throw things away!
Sustainability statement
ecomaine is ISO 14001: 2015-certified with TUV Rheinland of North America. This certification is for excellence in environmental management at all three ecomaine facilities (the waste-to-energy plant and recycling facility since 2002 and the landfill/ashfill since 2007). To maintain this certification, ecomaine undergoes ongoing, semi-annual audits by an accredited registrar.
As of 2022, ecomaine is the largest publicly owned and operated integrated waste management service in the U.S. to hold these certifications at its three facilities.
“Recycling is a complex subject and ecomaine is up to the challenge!”
“Dear ecomaine, thank you for teaching us about recycling, cleaning our environment, and trash.”