Maine recycling law targets packaging waste in bid to save taxpayers and climate

A flood of non-recyclable packaging, coupled with market disruptions overseas, threatens the sustainability of municipal recycling programs and environmental benefits.

OGUNQUIT, Maine -- In the cold autumn rain, as residents of this seaside resort town sort their paper, plastic and aluminum into community dumpsters, Steve Twombly uses a fishing net affixed to a six-foot-pole to scoop out recyclable misfits and debris that belongs in the trash.

"I have to fish out enough so that the percentage is so low that they will accept the load," Twombly said as he scanned a sea of plastic bottles inside the town’s waste transfer station.

Americans are eager to recycle more of their waste than ever before. Manufacturers are ravenous for a steady stream of materials to turn into new products.

But a growing flood of non-recyclable packaging, coupled with major market disruptions overseas, is threatening the sustainability of municipal recycling programs nationwide and the environmental benefits that help counter climate change, experts say.