Waste360 Staff, Staff

May 4, 2016

1 Min Read
Proposed Maine WTE Facility Struggling to Sign Up Communities

A proposed waste-to-energy plant slated to be built in Hampden, Maine, has extended a deadline for communities to join the project. It has only received half the commitments it needs to become viable. As a result, it has extended a deadline for 60 days for cities to sign up.

The proposed plant is supposed to be an alternative to an existing WTE facility operated by the Penobcot Energy Recovery Co. The communities have contracts with the plant that run out in 2018. The Hampden facility is backed by the Municipal Review Committee, which represents 187 Maine municipalities.

The existing Penobcot plant recently signed a deal with Casella Waste Systems to deliver commercial waste to the facility. The Casella deal will keep the existing facility viable after the contract with the municipalities expires.

The Portland Press Herald has the story about the issues the Hampden facility is facing:

So far 75 communities, which represent about 78,000 tons of trash a year, have agreed to sign on with Fiberight, said Greg Lounder, executive director of the Municipal Review Committee, which comprises 187 communities that bring their garbage to the PERC incinerator in Orrington.

Fiberight needs about 150,000 tons a year to be viable, officials have said.

Lounder said Monday that the deadline was extended to give towns, some of which haven’t had a town meeting yet, more time to decide. He said he is not concerned that only half the tonnage commitment has been met for the Fiberight project.

Read the full story here.

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