AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection no longer has a comprehensive list of town recycling rates, but it does have reported data from many communities, Carol Cifrino of the DEP Division of Materials Management said.
Below is a recycling comparison. A good statewide average, Cifrino said, is about 30%. That is far from the 50% state goal set in 1989.
Maine’s successful bottle bill, which sets a refundable deposit on cans and bottles, does add about 5% more to what is recycled, bringing the statewide average to about 35%. But beverage cans and bottles are not counted in municipal rates.
Statewide average: 30%
Auburn, 8%
Augusta, 6%
Bangor, 4.3% (2016)
Bowdoinham, 49.6%
Bridgton, 23.2%
Casco, 37.6%
Cumberland, 25.2%
Durham, 25.3%
Gray, 16.9%
Greene, 28%
Jay, 11.9%
Lewiston, 8%
Naples, 38.5%
New Sharon, 15% (2016)
Norway-Paris, 12.6%
Portland, 38.3%
Poland, 13.4%
Pownal, 41.8% (2016)
Raymond, 9.8% (2016)
Strong, 1.9%
Temple, 18%
Vienna, 31%
Sources: Municipalities, municipal reports to Maine Department of Environmental Protection and ecomaine
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