Maine Revised Statutes Title 38. Waters and Navigation § 2132. State goals

1. State recycling goal. It is the goal of the State to recycle or compost, by January 1, 2021, 50% of the municipal solid waste tonnage generated each year within the State.

1-A. Repealed. Laws 2015, c. 461, § 3, eff. July 29, 2016.

1-B. State waste disposal reduction goal. It is the goal of the State to reduce the statewide per capita disposal rate of municipal solid waste tonnage to 0.55 tons disposed per capita by January 1, 2019 and to further reduce the statewide per capita disposal rate by an additional 5% every 5 years thereafter. The baseline for calculating this reduction is the 2014 solid waste generation and disposal capacity data gathered by the department. Methods to achieve the goal under this subsection include efforts to consume or encourage the consumption of fewer resources, to reduce or encourage the reduction of the waste or inefficient use of resources and to increase the reuse or repurposing of solid waste.

2. Goal revision. The department shall recommend revisions, if appropriate, to the state recycling goal and waste disposal reduction goal established in this section. The department shall submit its recommendations and any implementing legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resource matters.

3. Beneficial use of waste. The use of waste paper, waste plastics, waste wood, including wood from demolition debris, used motor vehicle tires or corrugated cardboard as a fuel in industrial boilers or waste-to-energy facilities for the generation of heat, steam or electricity constitutes recycling only for the purposes of determining whether the goals in subsection 1 are met and for determining municipal progress as provided in section 2133. In order for the use of waste under this subsection to constitute recycling, the department must determine that there is no reasonably available market in the State for recycling that waste and the wastes must be incinerated as a substitute for, or supplement to, fossil or biomass fuels incinerated in the industrial boiler or waste-to-energy facility.

4. Reduction in dioxin. It is the policy of the State to reduce the total release of dioxin and mercury to the environment with the goal of its continued minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination.