MID-MAINE SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION    
   	The towns of Dexter, Exeter, Ripley, St. Albans, and Corinna are members that form the Mid Maine Solid Waste Association (MMSWA). Additionally, non-member municipalities using our facility include Guilford (since 2004), Cambridge (since 1999) and  on May 1st 2021 the town of Sangerville. The Association is governed by a Board of Directors, which represents the interests of each of the participating member communities.     
 The MMSWA facility provides for the disposal of solid waste at its Transfer Station and operates a Recycling Facility on the premises. The site also offers demolition debris disposal, composting, tire disposal, white goods (refrigerators, appliances, etc.), universal waste (televisions, monitors, etc.), and metal disposal.
During 2021 MMSWA disposed over 7,400 tons of MSW (municipal solid waste-household waste). 1,400 tons of wood waste (however 1200 tons was burned on-site), 800 tons of landfill debris, 125 tons of compost, 43 tons of universal waste, 10.5 tons of food waste, and over 1,000 tons of recyclables including 3000 gallons of paint. Because we process these items separately it is important for our residents to keep these items separated when bringing them in for disposal. MMSWA’s recycling rate continues to hover around 40%, shy of the 50% mandated by the state. MMSWA strives to improve this percentage but needs the help of our patrons to accomplish this goal. Every year the cost of disposing household waste increases by 4 to 5%, so the more our residents recycle, the more each town’s disposal fee increase can be minimized. 
 Please assist MMSWA in achieving its recycling goals by separating your trash prior to arriving at the facility. This allows our staff to maintain a clean, organized, and customer-friendly environment while increasing our recycling efforts.  Remember, the more materials recycled, the less our waste disposal costs will increase in the future. 
MMSWA is in an agreement with Municipal Resource Committee with 100 plus other towns to have our MSW go to the new state of the art recycling facility in Hampden. This facility will take the MSW and put it through a separator to maximize the recyclable product. The facility was opened in 2018 and has since been put on hold until there is a suitable buyer. We are anticipating that it will be sold in 2022. MMSWA believes that this change will help our facility achieve our recycling goals and save us money in the future. We have also added a separate area for bulky waste which includes sheetrock, sofas, stuffed chairs, tarps, carpet, large plastic items such as toys, outside furniture etc. The bulky area is currently not in use but will pending the new startup of the facility in Hampden. Anyone not sure where items should be properly disposed, please feel free to ask for assistance. Wood waste will stay the same as the past three years. Our clean wood (brush and logs) will continue to be chipped and removed for recycled energy. Our demo wood will be burned on site with the ash shipped to a controlled landfill. We shipped 50 tons of ash to Hartland landfill in 2021 at a cost of $7,800.        
The budget to operate the facility in 2021 with the addition of Sangerville was $1,226,000. This figure includes $705,000.00 for household waste disposal and transportation and $41,000 for landfill operations. We recovered $180,000 with the sale of recyclable materials and saved $98,000 in disposal costs as a result of recycled goods.   
There is a fee schedule for certain items for disposal and copies of the schedule can be acquired from the transfer station or your town office. The only change in 2022 from 2021 is the demo wood was increased to $110 per ton. Rules for the use of the transfer station and recycling facility and vehicle permits are available at the transfer station or your town office. Please feel free to contact us at MMSWA 924-3650 if you have any questions. Current permits are required in order to use the MMSWA facility. Hours of operation are 8am to 5pm Monday-Thursday and Saturday. We are closed on Fridays and Sundays.     
An important reminder, please make a concerted effort to secure all incoming loads in order to prevent roadside debris.     
 If you have any questions about the DEP's rules pertaining to municipal waste, universal waste, or demolition debris, please feel free to contact MMSWA or visit the Department of Environmental Protection website at  www.maine.gov/dep
 Respectfully Submitted, Greg Hathaway
Superintendent,
 Mid Maine Solid Waste Association