Blackmer mentioned in MPBN article, waste disposal

Travis Blackmer, research associate in UMaine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, was interviewed in a MPBN article looking at how Maine can better manage its waste.

Blackmer worked with Sen. Tom Saviello, co-chair of the legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee, to look at how other states and municipalities have improved their recycling rates.

“We have things like the polystyrene foam ban in Portland, polyethylene bags in Westport Connecticut, York recently, York Maine,” says Blackmer. “California as well. And then things like single serve PT bottles being banned in Concord, Massachusetts.”

According to the article, Maine’s goal of reaching a 50 percent recycling rate last year fell short, and is now estimated to be around 35 percent.