According to Woolwich's recycling firm, residents could do a better job recycling. “The recycling loads that came in for ... April were all 5 percent contaminated except for one,”  according to an email from ecomaine to the town office.

Town Administrator Kim Dalton forwarded the May 14 email to the Wiscasset Newspaper.

The town sends its trash and recycling to ecomaine in Portland. Riverside Disposal and Recycling of Chelsea is contracted to provide the town with weekly curbside trash and single sort recycling pickup.

“The good news is that only one load incurred a contamination fee. But the bad news is that any one of the other loads that were at 5 percent could have tipped up into the 10 percent range with just a few more inappropriate items in them,” ecomaine business development manager Lissa Bittermann wrote in the email.

Bittermann suggested more education is needed to keep residents from putting non-recyclable or contaminated items in with their recycling. Empty loose plastic bags are the biggest problem, she added.

“It’s clear that the Riverside staff are leaving the majority of the contamination behind, and likely what is still finding its way into the recycling is underneath or inside things and shielded from their view,” she continued.

“It makes me think that more education is needed because residents are still clearly putting incorrect items in their recycling,” stated Bittermann.

When a recycling load exceeds the contamination level, ecomaine assesses a fee to the sending town. Recycling loads which contain 3 to 5 percent contaminants by volume receive a warning; loads with contaminants of 6 to 10 percent incur a penalty of $35 per ton, according to Bittermann’s email. The fees increase depending on the contaminant percentage to a maximum of $70.50 per ton for recyclable loads containing 26 percent or higher contaminants per volume.

“As a whole, I think the community is doing a good job separating recyclables from their trash,” Select Board Chairman David King told the Wiscasset Newspaper. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t take too much to impact the percentage.”

Selectman Allison Hepler said the board planned to share the email with the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee. She noted last November ecomaine had a recycling information table at the polls on Election Day. “Maybe we could do something similar this year."