Regional Waste Systems, Inc. Company Profile

RWS Background

Regional Waste Systems, Inc. is a municipal-owned, non-profit solid waste and recycling organization that was established in 1974 after Portland, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough decided to form a cooperative to handle their waste disposal.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, more southern Maine towns joined the cooperative, and in the mid-80s member towns voted to build a "waste-to-energy" facility to burn trash from each member community and convert it to energy. In 1988, the European-designed "mass burn" incinerator went on-line at the new RWS facility located on the outskirts of Portland near the Maine Turnpike. A comprehensive recycling program also was initiated in 1990 to reduce the amount of trash coming into the facility. Today, 21 cities and towns own and control RWS, and six additional towns are associate members. The organization is governed by a 28-member board consisting of officials appointed from member towns. RWS accepts solid waste and recycled materials from each of these communities.

RECYCLING

Recycling plays a key role in the solid waste management at RWS. To reduce the amount of waste generated in member communities, RWS has installed more than 100 silver recycling containers in 60 locations throughout the 27 communities served by RWS. Residents place recyclable materials such as newspapers, metal food and beverage cans, telephone books, and plastics such as milk jugs and detergent containers into the silver containers, usually located in parking lots.

With the new processing and sorting equipment installed in 2000, RWS can accept a wider variety of recycled materials and residents now sort less as plastic, glass and cans can be combined. The new mechanical recycling sorting equipment doubled the capacity of the recycling facility at RWS, which has the largest municipal recycling program in Maine, processing 16,000 tons of recyclable material per year.

At RWS, the recycled materials are sorted, processed, bailed and sold to markets to be transformed into reusable products. Newspapers, for example, are recycled into products such as pressed paper, berry baskets, newsprint, building materials, and chipboard. Cans are baled and marketed through a local scrap dealer to steel mills, where they are made into new steel. Plastic is sold to plastic factories and remanufactured.


ENERGY

The waste-to-energy plant operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and fully complies with state and federal Clean Air Act emission standards. Each year, RWS processes between 172,000 and 177,000 tons of trash, incinerating about 480 tons of trash per day. Incineration reduces the volume of wastes by at least 90 percent and the weight by 80 percent. The remaining ash and non-combustible wastes are placed in a secure ashfill, owned by RWS and located in South Portland.

The heat created by burning the wastes generates steam, which is then transformed into electricity. Electricity is presently sold to Duke Energy Trading and Marketing as a way to help offset RWS' trash disposal expenditures. The plant generates more than 90 million kilowatts of electricity per year - enough energy to satisfy the needs of 13,000 households. It would take 11 million gallons of fuel oil to produce the same amount of electricity each year.

OTHER PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

- RWS has an informative web site at http://www.regionalwaste.org. The site is aimed at helping residents in the cities and towns that own the organization learn more about recycling and the container locations, as well as recent developments and programs at RWS.

- RWS has conducted comprehensive household hazardous waste and mercury product collections in member communities to help remove those harmful materials from the waste stream.

- The RWS volunteer recycling committee offers a number of programs to promote recycling in the region, including a Recycler of the Year award, a pumpkin giveaway in area schools and a high school essay competition. Also, Reggie the Raccoon, the RWS mascot, visits schools in member communities to spread his fun but informative message about recycling and the environment to schoolchildren.

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