Readfield introduces food recycling July 24 with Mitchell Center, Maine DEP

The town of Readfield will launch a new food recycling program with the towns of Fayette and Wayne on July 24 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Readfield Transfer Station. Maine Sen. Craig Hickman, town officials and representatives from Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will be in attendance. Free ice cream and compost container giveaways will be held throughout the day.

In the afternoon, DEP organics specialist Mark King will host a food recycling and composting class at the Maranacook High School campus, with free home composting bins for registered attendees. Sign up for the class at the Transfer Station or by contacting the town at 207.685.3144 or info@readfieldmaine.org.

The Food Rescue MAINE program, with the slogan “Maine Food – Too Good to Waste” as a call to action, is spearheaded by a team of faculty and students from the Mitchell Center and several Maine colleges and universities. It is funded in part by the DEP’s food waste diversion program. Food Rescue MAINE assists Maine communities with food waste reduction, food recovery and food recycling projects to demonstrate their “triple-bottom-line” benefits — saving money, feeding people and protecting natural resources.

The new food recycling drop-off site, which will serve residents of Readfield, Wayne and Fayette, is located at the Readfield Transfer Station on Recycle Road. Residents’ food waste will be incorporated into the existing yard waste recycling operation to provide high-quality compost for town residents and municipal landscaping projects.

Readfield, Fayette and Wayne are the latest central Maine communities to launch a food recycling program in conjunction with Food Rescue MAINE, following Waterville’s launch in June and Winslow’s launch in April. Portland also launched five sites on Earth Day this year.  

As part of the Food Rescue MAINE campaign, the Mitchell Center team has developed a variety of materials to build awareness of and support for community food rescue and recycling programs. Available resources include a new web portal, social media platform, and a library of recycling information, signage, flyers and videos. A school outreach program is also being piloted at select Maine elementary and high schools. 

For more information about the July 24 event in Readfield, contact the Readfield town office at 207.685.4939 or info@readfieldmaine.org.