AUBURN, ME – At a meeting held Monday, October 16, the Auburn City Council voted to reinstate a reimagined and refreshed new citywide curbside recycling program for residents. On June 28, the city suspended the curbside collection of residential recycling and launched a 24/7 drop-off system located next to Auburn Public Works on Gracelawn Road. In the weeks that followed, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque called a meeting with Casella to negotiate a better option for the city.

In September, the city council authorized City Manager Phil Crowell to modify the city’s solid waste agreement with Casella to reintroduce a “pilot” recycling program. During the meeting, staff presented the details of the new program, which will begin on November 1 and will feature every other week curbside collection of recycling to all solid waste participants in the city. The program will feature Zero-Sort® technology, and accepted materials will include #1, #2, #5 plastics, cardboard, and mixed paper.

Another highlight of the program will be Casella’s “Recycle Better App,” which will provide direct communication and education to participants. The app will make it easy for residents to stay connected about trash and recycling collection with an easyto-use calendar, seasonal reminders and tips, service day reminders, real-time updates on weather-related service delays, and more. The app will also feature the “Waste Wizard Tool” to show which items are recyclable.

Public education on recycling is a high priority for the city and for Casella. Auburn-specific direct mail pieces will be produced and distributed by Casella, and the city communications team will provide educational social media content as well as resources on the city’s website. Casella and the city will work collaboratively to collect data over the duration of the pilot program for curbside collection of recyclables. Periodic reports will be presented to the city council, including data on participation by household, and percentage of overall waste collected.

“We are committed to working collaboratively with the City of Auburn to meet its goals, both environmentally and economically,” said Chris McHale, Market Area Manager for Casella. “We feel that this proposal reflects our strong desire continue our partnership with the city and work towards building the recycling program back up.”

The city plans to retain the centralized drop-off containers currently located at Public Works on Gracelawn Road.