A company that provided curbside pick-up of food scraps once a month to 150 Kennebunk residents is switching to a drop-off model at the transfer station. The food scraps are turned into compost at a facility in Auburn. File photo

KENNEBUNK — A provider of a private, fee-based curbside food waste collection system is switching to a drop-off model at the Kennebunk transfer station. The owners cite a lack of staff for the change.

We Compost It!, which has some of the same ownership as CPRC, the Scarborough-based company that operates the transfer station at Kennebunk Public Services, is suspending its curbside collection of food waste in Kennebunk, Portland and other communities. The company turns the food waste  – vegetable trimmings, peels, bones,and more  – into compost.

In addition to Kennebunk, We Compost It!  offers drop-off service in Biddeford, Scarborough, Portland, Freeport and Falmouth, according to  to the company website.

“From a public safety and quality of service standpoint, we have a set of standards we don’t want to compromise, so we made the decision to not provide the (curbside) service,” Jim Hiltner, of We Compost It!, told the Kennebunk Select Board on Oct. 27. “We can’t find the right qualified individuals with which to continue. I wish we could, and we have tried very hard to do this, but the best candidate in the last 60 days was someone with two DUIs and a longer list of other traffic infractions.”

We Compost It! has had 150 curbside residential customers in Kennebunk. It began the Kennebunk program in 2015 and charged $8.26 per monthly pick-up.

The fee for Kennebunk residents to drop off a five-gallon bucket of food waste at the transfer station is $1. The fee will be collected by transfer station personnel during regular operating hours Tuesday through Saturday.

The drop-off is open to all Kennebunk residents, not only the 150 former curbside customers, Hiltner said.

He said the company has a licensed facility in the Auburn/Poland area where the food waste is taken, amendments are added and over time, the material is transformed into organically certified compost, and sold at retailers throughout Maine.

According to the company website, it is also available at the Kennebunk transfer station.

Kennebunk resident Rachel Phipps suggested that the transfer station allow drop-off outside transfer station hours, which she said are difficult for people who work outside of town. Hiltner said the drop-off programs that are the most successful operate within transfer station hours.
Another resident suggested the town explore Food Rescue Maine, a program of the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine.

Hiltner said the company would have literature available at the transfer station on the types of food waste that is accepted for newcomers to the program.

The board voted to approve the initiative at the transfer station.

According to the We Compost It! website, acceptable materials include all food scraps, coffee grounds and filters, dairy products, meat and bones, egg and seafood shells, paper bags, paper plates, napkins and paper towels.