In the Jan. 30 Sentry, a South Portland resident questioned the need and merits of recycling given that he observed the green trash bin and the blue recycling bin being dumped in the same Pine Tree Waste truck. He questioned the honesty/integrity of the council for asking residents to sort and bring two bins to curbside when the truck driver just empties both into the same body.  I agree that it does look that way but the collection truck is divided into two sections, split lengthwise down the middle.

The driver in the cab is looking at a colored monitor and using joysticks (same concepts as in electronic game playing) slides the cover over the trash side. He lifts your blue bin and dumps the recyclables in the correct section.  Then, using his joysticks, he slides the cover over recyclables, lifts your green bin and dumps it in the trash side. You can visit the South Portland Web site, www.southportland.org and see a short video of this process. It really matters that this separation happens as we taxpayers are charged a tipping fee for every ton of trash delivered to ecomaine for burning. We save dollars if we recycle. It is worth a visit to ecomaine to watch the recyclables be separated by machines and bailed for sale. Thank you for saving us money and for caring for the environment.

Maxine Beecher

City Councilor District 4

South Portland