Carthage will have to find a new place to bring its trash after the Jay transfer station closes to outside towns July 1.

Carthage has been taking its municipal solid waste to Jay’s transfer station since the town landfill closed more than a decade ago.

First Selectman Steve Brown said Carthage has several options. He is not surprised that Jay will stop accepting outside trash.

“We understand now, they’re downsizing,” Brown said. “Jay was convenient. … Now we’ll just have to do something a little different.”

Selectmen have not started to plan an alternative, but Brown said taking trash to the incinerator at Mid-Maine Waste to Energy in Auburn or to the Crossroads landfill in Norridgewock are both options.

Town residents now take their trash to the Carthage transfer station, where they dispose of it in the town’s compactor truck. Once a week the truck is driven to the Jay transfer station, where Carthage refuse is combined with Jay’s trash, which is then taken to the landfill in Norridgewock.

Advertisement

The town of 560 people generates about 200 tons of municipal solid waste annually, Brown said. Carthage pays Jay $90 per ton to accept its trash. Brown said this is a higher per-ton rate than the average mid-to-low $60 range, but that the convenience of Jay’s proximity made up for the cost.

Jay’s transfer station is a 50-mile round trip from Carthage, compared to the 100-mile round trip to Norridgewock. Auburn is about a 90-mile round trip, and Brown said a downside to that option is the traffic congestion in the Lewsiton-Auburn area.

Carthage’s trash contract with Jay expires June 30, and selectmen will start weighing options soon. Brown said they’re prepared to take their trash elsewhere.

“We thought about doing this ourselves before, but Jay was convenient,” Brown said. “We’ve modernized through the years. … We have a much better truck than we did 10 years ago; it could make the trip to Norridgewock.”

Fayette, in Kennebec County, is the only other town that takes its trash to Jay.

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.