ReSource Waste Services of Lewiston Moves Forward With $1.5 Million+ Investment in Recycling Initiative

ReSource Waste Services of Lewiston, which operates a facility that processes and recycles construction and demolition debris, has received permit approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and is moving forward with plans to invest more than $1.5 million dollars in a new processing line. The state-of-the-art equipment to be installed at the Lewiston facility will substantially increase the facility’s ability to maximize the recycling and beneficial reuse of inbound materials, transforming C&D into reusable commodities.

Greg Leahey, President and Chief Operating Officer, ReSource Waste Services

“This investment will take the facility to a new level. We’ll become more mechanized and more sophisticated,” said Greg Leahey, the President and Chief Operating Officer of ReSource Waste Services, ReSource Lewiston’s parent company. “We look forward to improving our recycling rates and better serving our community.”

ReSource Lewiston, located on Alfred A. Plourde Parkway in the City of Lewiston, processes a wide variety of C&D and recovers material that can be reused in other applications, including fuel for electricity generation; medium-density fiberboard (MDF) manufacturing; new cardboard and drywall; recycled plastic and metal products; and other construction materials and soil substitutes.

The new processing line will include: two new magnets to increase the recovery of ferrous metals; an eddy current separator to increase the recovery of non-ferrous metal; a de-stoner to increase the recovery of asphalt, brick and concrete; and an added picking line to allow for the additional recovery of wood. The new equipment and process upgrades are expected to be operational in late 2021 or early 2022.

“We are committed to a partnership with the State that helps us achieve both short- and long-term solid waste management and recycling goals,” said Leahey. “As a result of our work in the last legislative session, we are proud to make the upgrades and investment necessary to increase our recycling, recovery and beneficial reuse rate from 60% to approximately 72%. We will continue to focus on responsible management and sustainability initiatives that meet the needs of our customers, while maximizing environmental benefits.”

Beginning in 2019, ReSource Lewiston was part of a broad group of stakeholders that worked in partnership with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) and legislators to update definitions included in the State’s solid waste management laws. As a result, LD 401, “An Act to Preserve State Landfill Capacity and Promote Recycling,” was passed by the Legislature and signed into law in March of 2020. To meet the recycling goals outlined in the legislation, ReSource Lewiston committed to invest in its Lewiston facility and upgrade its equipment. MEDEP is required to report back on the outcome of LD 401 as part of the 2024 update to the state’s waste management and recycling plan.

ReSource Lewiston supports nearly 40 direct jobs and dozens of indirect jobs, spends about $14 million a year and has more than 50 customers and more than 100 vendors. It makes direct payments of more than $400,000 per year to the Maine DEP solid waste fund for the disposal of waste at the Juniper Ridge Landfill and has a direct benefit to the City of Lewiston of approximately $275,000 every year, including lease and tax payments and free disposal of waste. In 2020, the Lewiston facility processed approximately 190,000 tons of C&D, with about 60% of the material re-cycled into new products or beneficially re-used as alternative daily cover at the Juniper Ridge Landfill.

ReSource Waste Services, headquartered in Albany, NY, is the largest processor of construction and demolition debris in the New England region. The company’s portfolio includes five processing facilities in New England with an annual permitted capacity of approximately 1.4 million tons, a trucking company and a C&D collection business.

More information on the company can be found here.