Organics Management – Regional Solid Waste Management Plan Bath, Maine

The Midcoast Council of Governments (MCOG) is a public-private, non-profit development corporation that serves the municipalities of Sagadahoc County (10 total) and the towns of Brunswick and Harpswell in Cumberland County. Among other goals, MCOG serves as a mutual forum to identify, study, and bring into focus regional challenges and opportunities. To that end, MCOG hired SCS to prepare a regional solid waste management plan (SWMP) to assist the twelve communities in its region to address its solid waste management issues, including:

• Limited disposal capacity within the region.
• The current system of solid waste management where each community independently manages its solid waste, resulting in higher costs, less efficiency, and fewer options due to lack of research.
• Waste diversion programs that have had some success but which can be improved and result in overall cost savings to residents, businesses, and institutions.

SCS’s scope included:

• Compilation of region demographics;
• Estimate of solid waste quantities and composition;
• Description of existing solid waste facilities and programs;
• Compilation of existing contracts;
• Evaluation of best practices and regional options.

SCS recommended a number of items, including more regional cooperation for food waste composting, an enhanced pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program, and single-stream recycling.