Members of the Northern Oxford Regional Solid Waste Board and waste station manager Eric Schmersal meet Tuesday at Rumford Town Hall. From left are board member Reggie Arsenault, Schmersal, board Chairwoman Patty Duguay and Administrator John Madigan. (Rumford Falls Times photo by Bruce Farrin)

RUMFORD — Good news for 2019: the solid waste budget will not increase.

Members of the Northern Oxford Regional Solid Waste Board on Wednesday gave unanimous approval to a $1.04 million spending plan.

Administrator John Madigan said assessments to Rumford, Mexico, Dixfield, Peru, Roxbury and Byron will remain unchanged for the ninth consecutive year. The total for all six towns is $371,542.

Madigan said a cost-of-living increase of 3.7 percent has upped the tipping fee from $53.60 to $55.58 per ton for waste trucked to Waste Management in Norridgewock. As a result, the $4,200 increase will be covered by recycling revenue, he said.

So far this year, recycling revenue stands at $107,000. Revenue from handling solid waste from Catalyst paper mill in Rumford is expected to be close to $30,000, Madigan said.

There are no planned major capital expenses.

“We’ve replaced everything major over the last 10 years,” Madigan said.

He said the six towns average around 9,000 tons of solid waste annually.

Recycling amounts to about 900 tons. In addition, the Solid Waste Board gets credit for cardboard from Walmart and other businesses.

Eric Schmersal, manager at the transfer station and recycling center on River Road in Mexico, said they’ll have a sense of the recycling percentage in March.

Board Chairwoman Patty Duguay said they’re currently getting $69 per ton for cardboard, $110 per ton for tin, $750 per ton for clear plastic, $300 per ton for colored plastic, roughly $40 per ton for newsprint, and $115 per ton for scrap metal.

Duguay said recycling coordinator Connie Money has met with officials at Rumford Elementary School where there is a lot of interest in recycling. In addition, students have painted recycling bins for roadside pickup and put recycling bins in each classroom.

For information about recycling and the pickup schedule go to rumfordme.org/.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net