AUGUSTA— Governor Paul R. LePage and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have announced recipients of the 2018 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence including the Maine State Prison in Warren.

“Maine’s environment is part of what makes our state special,” stated Governor Paul LePage.  “We need economic growth that is sustainable and that balances our need for prosperity with our need for a clean environment.  The employers highlighted by these awards exemplify how to achieve that balance.  I congratulate them for all they do for their clients, their employees, our environment and the state.”

The awards, which are administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, recognize businesses, public entities and individuals for their extraordinary efforts to protect and improve Maine’s environment. The Maine State Prison will receive the Sustainability Award in recognition of their composting and recycling programs. 

”The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is committed to improving our State’s regulatory climate and to creating a stronger culture of cooperation between government, Maine people and businesses.  “This year’s honorees provide examples of innovation, sustainability and stewardship for Maine businesses, organizations and citizens to emulate. DEP is pleased to recognize them for their efforts in protecting Maine’s natural resources,” said Maine Acting DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim.

The 2018 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence will be awarded to the following:

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

MoInlycke – Wiscasset

MoInlycke manufactures medical hydrophilic polyurethane foam products at its Wiscasset facility. One of these products is an innovative foam containing silver that is used to make life-saving antimicrobial dressings used for burns and infected wounds. During the manufacturing process, hazardous waste scrap foam (containing silver) and hazardous wastewater (containing residual quantities of silver) are generated. The foam scraps have been sent to a reclamation facility for recycling since 2009. Building on that initiative, MoInlycke started researching alternatives for recycling the silver in their liquid waste and engineered a process that precipitated the majority of silver out of the wastewater, sinking it to the bottom of the tank. Wastewater from the top of the tank is directed through silver recovery units to filter the remaining residual amounts of silver from the wastewater. The silver-containing sludge is removed from the bottom of the tank, and sent to recycling facilities that reclaim the silver for reuse as a precious metal. This project has eliminated the need to ship numerous 55-gallon drums of wastewater offsite as a hazardous waste and can now be safely treated onsite.

STEWARDSHIP AWARD

Maine State Prison - Warren

This past year, the Maine State Prison introduced a large scale sustainable recycling and composting program. Prior to this initiative, all organics and unsorted trash were dumped into a container and hauled to the local transfer station. All the compostable bi-product generated by the 3,200 daily meals prepared at the prison was being wasted. This process neglected to capture valuable organic materials and other recyclable products. Partnering with others, the prison transformed a small scale, struggling effort in composting to the current system which composts 600,000 pounds of organics annually. Simultaneous to the compost and recycling program, is the sustainable agricultural program which produces 12,000 of vegetables from three acres of previously unused land. This produce is utilized in the inmate dining facility and 1,000 pounds have been donated to the area food pantry. In 2018, the Maine State Prison generated 47,000, 35-gallon bags of waste, once sorted by inmates that were educated as to the proper sorting and handling of this material, the result of was a decrease of only 4,700 bags of non-recyclable material. To date, the prison has recycled more than 170,000 pounds of non-organic materials and approximately 80,000 pounds of cardboard. The entire program has removed significant amounts of material from the waste stream and saved the State prison $100,000 in waste management annually.

INNOVATION AWARD

Inland Technologies International – South Portland

In 2009, the Portland International Jetport partnered with Inland Technologies International to assist with refining the jetport’s environmental management systems, focusing on winter operations and stormwater quality management. Portland International Jetport tasked Inland Technologies with the development of an on-site glycol recycling facility. The objective was to collect effluent down to the 1% glycol contamination level and process it to produce a 50% glycol product. Inland Technologies produced a 50% “raw-grade” material and discharged “clean water” generated in the process to a local wastewater treatment facility. In time, it became clear that there was an opportunity to further refine the raw-grade glycol product into a higher-grade glycol that could be used throughout the region. Inland Technologies developed an industrial process to refine the 50% concentrate to a “virgin-quality” glycol product on-site at the Portland International Jetport. In 2015, a permanent facility was built to refine and produce a high-grade glycol product. The Jetport announced that for the 2017-2018 winter season, Type I ADF was manufactured onsite from 100% reclaimed glycols. The glycol recycling program has delivered positive environmental outcomes and generated reusable glycol products for use by the airlines in the region.

In the coming weeks, Acting DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim will be conducting site visits at these establishments to make the award presentations.