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For Immediate Release
November 16, 2001

Contact:
Eric Root
(207) 773-6465
E-mail: beryl@wolfenews.com

Beryl Wolfe
(207) 775-5115

Web Site: http://www.regionalwaste.org

RWS Calls on Public to Help Stop Dumping of Hypodermic Needles in Recycling Bins

Steep increase in needles and other medical waste found in RWS recycling bins in recent weeks

PORTLAND, Maine (November 16, 2001) - Officials at Regional Waste Systems, Inc. are calling on the public to help put a stop to the improper disposal of hypodermic needles and other medical waste in RWS recycling bins provided to towns throughout southern Maine.

"The problem of needles dumped in with recyclables has increased dramatically in recent weeks and for no apparent reason," said Eric Root, the director of materials recovery at RWS, a non-profit municipal solid waste organization that is owned by the member towns it serves. RWS also has the largest municipal recycling program in the state, receiving and sorting curbside and bin recyclables from 27 communities.

"This is a serious, daily problem that is getting worse," Root said at a press conference Friday, accompanied by two RWS board members, Troy Moon of the Portland Public Works Department and Len Van Gaasbeek of Hollis, who also spoke about the problem.

"These needles are a danger and a health risk to our employees who sort the recyclables," Root said. "We need to find a way to stop this before the inevitable occurs and one of our workers is injured. So we're calling on the public to help."

Root said if anyone sees needles or other medical waste being thrown into recycling bins, please call their local town office or the RWS recycling hotline - 871-7678, or 871-SORT - and ask for Eric Root.

Over the past month, recyclables delivered to RWS, either from bins or collected at curbside, have included increasing quantities of used hypodermic needles and other medical waste - even a biohazardous used needle box believed to have originated from a medical facility, he said. This week alone, hundreds of needles were found stuffed into plastic bottles such as juice or milk jugs, or loose with other recyclables.

State law provides that home users of hypodermic needles may place them in heavy plastic bottles and throw the needles and container away in the regular trash, where the health risk is far smaller. Medical facilities are required to use licensed biohazardous disposal firms.

RWS has more than 100 recycling bins in more than 60 locations, from parking lots at supermarkets and town centers to high schools, for use by residents in the 21 member communities and six associate member towns that it serves. RWS also handles the trash for those communities, burning it to create electricity in its state-of-the-art waste to energy facility on Blueberry Road in Portland.

RWS towns already have been alerted to the problem, Root said, but as a non-profit organization, they cannot afford to monitor the recycling bins at all times. Over the next few weeks, however, RWS plans to place decals on the bins warning people not to dispose of hypodermic needles or medical waste.

RWS workers sort recyclable material along conveyor belts. Contaminated needles pose a risk of sticking a sorter, he said. "This is a serious problem and we want to make sure the public understands that these items need to stay out of recycling containers," Root said. "Whatever anyone can do is greatly appreciated."

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