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April 22, 2013

Report: ME without landfill space by 2025

A state study revised this month shows Maine could run out of landfill space before 2025 if nothing in the state's waste management system changes.

The Bangor Daily News reported that, as a result, the state continues to expand its options to reduce waste beyond traditional recycling.

While the paper reported that it is unlikely the state will meet a legislative goal of recycling 50% of the state's waste by Jan. 1, 2014, state officials told the paper that new technologies like waste gasification are on the Department of Environmental Protection's radar to reduce Maine's landfill needs.

Melanie Loyzim, director of the DEP's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, told the paper that expanded composting is a top way the state could reduce its waste. She said over 40% of household garbage is made up of organics.

Loyzim said those new waste-diversion strategies in the DEP's latest report could also provide economic benefit for the state.

For instance, Portland-based Garbage to Garden is building a business around picking up unwanted food scraps in curbside containers for  composting and selling, the paper reported.

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