PORTLAND — Several regional businesses are pitching in to help boost the city’s recycling efforts.

In a partnership announced April 19, donations from L.L. Bean, Sappi North America and Catalyst, in collaboration with the Recycling Partnership, will pay for 18 new, high-tech bins to collect recyclables. Sappi operates a paper mill in Westbrook; Catalyst operates a mill in Rumford, according to a city press release.

The new containers are for collecting bottles, cans and paper packaging. The containers are also equipped with sensors that quantify the amount of material collected and alert city staff when servicing is needed. The bins were introduced April 21 at the Green Neighbor Family Fest outside Deering High School on Stevens Avenue.

City Sustainability Coordinator Troy Moon said Monday the new bins will be installed over the next couple of weeks, including two on Peaks Island.

On the mainland, the bins will be found on the city’s peninsula. Sites included are near Maine Medical Center, Congress Square, East End Beach, Fort Allen Park and multiple locations on Commercial Street.

The Recycling Partnership also funded $175,000 of the $1 million cost for the city to distribute recycling bins with wheels and lids to city residences last summer. In the press release, Moon said the residential bins improved the recycling rate by 15 percent and reduced the amount of windblown garbage that came from the smaller, lidless containers previously used to for recyclable collections.

“People often ask for better opportunities to recycle when they’re away from home so we’re excited to provide these new containers to make it possible,” Moon said in the press release.

David Harry can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.

Recycling bins with sensors will be placed in locations on the Portland peninsula and Peaks Island.

Recycling bins supported by donations from L.L. Bean, Sappi North America and Catalyst will be installed throughout the Portland peninsula over the next few weeks.


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