CANCELLED- Waste Reduction Committee

CANCELLED- Waste Reduction Committee - Jun 17 2026 Agenda Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 5:30 PM To join from a computer or mobile device: https://meet.google.com/nqc-zpax-tgt Page A. Opening 2 WRC Meeting Agenda 6_17 (1).pdf 1. Call to Order - Welcome and Introduction 2. Approval of Minutes 4 Approval for April & May WRC Meeting Minutes.docx WRC Meeting Minutes - May 2026.docx B. Action Old and New Business 1. Membership Update 2. UMaine Pilot Program Updates 3. Summer Meeting Schedule 4. Zero Waste Event Guide C. Next Steps 1. Pay As You Throw Proposal to Council D. Open Discussion 1. Public Comments E. Adjournment Page 1 of 7 WRC Meeting Agenda Date: June 17, 2026 Location: Sustainability Department, 829 Sawyer St. South Portland 1. Call to Order 2. House Keeping 5:30-5:45 ●​ Welcome and Introduction ●​ Approval of Meeting Minutes from April & May ●​ Approval of Tip for July - Marty / Leave No Trace ●​ Set Next Month Tip ●​ Decide on Summer meeting 3. Discussion/Updates 5:45-6:30 ●​ Membership Update ●​ UMaine FWPP Update ●​ New Topics from the Sustainability Office? 4. Action Items 6:30-7:00 ●​ Zero Waste Event Planning Guide, Ongoing Project - Come ready to discuss! 5. Public Comments ●​ Next Meeting TBD Notes ●​ Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities in 2026 September 11 (tentative)​ ​ Senior Age-Friendly Resource Fair​ ​ Friday, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM​ ​ Location: South Portland Community Center Page 2 of 7 ​ September (tentative)​ ​ Back to School Night​ ​ Location: South Portland Middle School Page 3 of 7 WRC Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: April 15, 2026 Location: Sustainability Department, 829 Sawyer Road, South Portland Attendance: Julie Taft (Sustainability Department Liaison), Evan Beck (Chair), Nick Benfaremo, Linda Libby, Emily Campbell (member of public), James Martin Dorn, Lauren Thomas, Christopher Walton 1. Call to Order a. Quorom established 2. House Keeping a. Welcome to member of the public in attendance (Emily Campbell) b. Motion forwarded/seconded to approve minutes of March WRC Meeting i. Vote: approved c. Motion forwarded/seconded to approve April Recycling Tip (Trash) i. Vote: approved d. Reminder of Earth Day Event on April 25th from 10AM to 2PM i. Christopher and Evan will be tabling (see Item 4.a., below) e. Three committee member terms ending this spring: i. Nick stated that he will not be renewing his term immediately, but will reconsider after returning from travel ii. Linda stated that she will not be renewing her term. iii. Lauren has not yet decided. 3. Discussion (Old Business) a. UMaine Food Waste Pilot Program i. Julie described some local publicity the project received in the Portland Press Herald and NOW periodicals ii. Julie stated that the UMaine team will be meeting on April 22, 2026 and preliminary findings will be available after the meeting iii. Will from UMaine will be at the Earth Day event in Mill Creek Park to promote the pilot program here in South Portland b. Sustainability Department News i. Julie reported that the Department applied for a Maine DEP grant that will be awarded in June of this year to support year-round recycling education efforts in the community 1. There will be opportunities for the WRC to support this effort Page 4 of 7  4. Action Items (New Business) a. Event Table Set-Up Discussion i. Having some type of game (ie. “Which bin does this go in?” was discussed ii. Ultimately, it was agreed that we would have: 1. A “Tricky Trash” barrel, and 2. An “Everything in Here is Recyclable” barrel iii. Be on the lookout for plastic food we can display as “compostable” iv. Evan will collect the items needed for the event from the Sustainability Office on the Thursday prior to the event (April 23rd) b. Zero-Waste Guidelines i. Open discussion about the purpose and scope of an ideal Zero- Waste Guide, as well as best practices for editing the existing material ensued ii. A draft revised document created by Christopher was saved in the shared drive. Suggested edits and comments should be inserted into this document on the shared drive iii. The committee will consider comments and suggested edits at the May monthly meeting 5. Public Comments a. None 6. Meeting Adjourned Next Meeting May 20, 2026 Page 5 of 7 WRC Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: May 20, 2026 Location: Sustainability Department, 829 Sawyer Road, South Portland Attendance: Julie Taft (Sustainability Department Liaison), Evan Beck (Chair), James Martin Dorn, Christopher Walton 1. Call to Order a. No quorum for voting purposes 2. Housekeeping a. June Tip i. Evan will write the June Tip which will be a follow-up to the April Tip about food waste and recent Garbage to Garden (G2G) changes (no bags, etc). Evan will contact G2G tabout any citizen comments or questions that might be addressed in the tip, and/or information about changes in the volume of waste diverted in the past two months. b. July Tip i. Martin suggested a Leave No Trace theme to align with “Plastic- Free July” c. Summer meetings i. The committee has not yet decided about a meeting in July, but there will be no meeting in August. 3. Discussion (Old Business) a. Membership Update i. Emily Campbell has applied for one of the open committee positions; her appointment process isl in progress. ii. Lauren Thomas has not yet indicated her intentions regarding renewing her term. b. UMaine FWPP Update i. Cia will not be participating in the pilot. However, Taco Trio is interested in taking their spot. ii. It was noted that Recirclable sent an email to its users about the pilot program in Maine. iii. The next pilot program review meeting will be held 5/27, after which preliminary data may be available for the WRC to review. c. Earth Day Fair Recap Page 6 of 7  i. The committee agreed that the tabling event was a success and the waste sorting game was a big hit with the public. ii. It was also noted that having our partner UMaine at the table was a helpful boost to outreach efforts. The committee will consider opportunities to share table space with our partners at future events. d. Sustainability Department News i. Julie reported no news regarding the Maine DEP grant; the final decision may not be until September. e. Zero Waste Event Planning Document i. Evan started a new document in Canva, which Julie was able to download into the shared drive for the WRC. ii. The committee spent some time discussing the format and presentation of the document. iii. A working version of this document is now located in the WRC shared drive and each committee member is asked to attempt adding comments to the working document to confirm that it is accessible to everyone. iv. The committee will continue to review this working copy and make suggested edits and comments for review at a future meeting. f. Summer Contest i. The final zero waste event planning document may not be ready for several months, so the Summer Contest idea has been postponed. 4. Public Comments a. None 5. Meeting Adjourned Next Meeting June 17, 2026 Page 7 of 7