AUGUSTA -- That bag of trash you leave curbside or take to the Hatch Hill landfill today could end up powering your diesel pickup truck in the future.
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Birds swirl around the compactor at Hatch Hill landfill on Tuesday afternoon in Augusta. City officials are in discussions about a trash to diesel facility at the site
Staff photo by Joe Phelan
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An excavator tears down the old Burger King restaurant Tuesday afternoon on Western Avenue, between Airport Road and Armory Street in Augusta. The sign in front reads “See You Soon.” A new Burger King is planned to open in a few months at the site. “It will have a new image. Burger King has a new look,” Paul Lenowicz, construction manager for Carrols Corp., owner of the Augusta Burger King, said at July planning board meeting. “It will be a little smaller, more energy-efficient and more geared to the drive-through.”
CHELSEA -- Residents may join a regional effort to increase recycling and extend the life of the Hatch Hill landfill.
The regional landfill operated by the city of Augusta is estimated to have only 15 years of capacity remaining.
"We're looking long-term at trash buried at Hatch Hill," said Bill Najpauer of Renaissance Planning Associates. "Landfill expansion is getting much more expensive. (Hatch Hill) could become a transfer station.
"The cost will go up for either of those two scenarios," he said. "So the less garbage we produce will help keep costs down."
AUGUSTA -- Residents of the nine communities that have their garbage hauled to Hatch Hill landfill in Augusta could eventually be required to pay by the bag.
The Kennebec Regional Recycling Committee, in a presentation similar to one already made in the eight communities that send waste to Hatch Hill, outlined several steps that would increase recycling in the region.
Judy Dorsey, a committee representative from Gardiner, said recycling rates in the region are much lower than the state average and need to increase.
