A Maine transfer station is considering municipal organic waste collection, a report from The Oxford Hill Sun Journal says. The Tri-Town Transfer Station will collect the food scraps to use in electricity generation if the proposal passes.

The towns included in the Tri-Town Transfer Station are Bethel, Newry and Hanover, the report says. Town officials in Newry were the first to discuss the organic recovery process of collecting food scraps separately at the transfer station and sending them to a processing center, Agri-Cycle Energy, Portland, Maine.

Agri-Cycle is partnered with Exeter, Maine-headquartered Exeter Agri-Energy. Exeter Agri-Energy takes the organic materials provided by Agri-Cycle Energy and uses anaerobic digestion to create electricity.

The organic waste to be collected would include fruit and vegetable peels, dairy products, meat, fish, bones, bread, rice, pasta, coffee ground, filters, tea bags, egg shells, soiled paper and compostable products, according to the report.

Homeowners who are interested in participating would collect the waste in a bag and take it to the transfer station, the report says. A special countertop maybe in installed that would allowed residents to drop food scraps into a liner with the container automatically closing to avoid fruit flies.

According to the report, the service would cost Tri-Town $78 per month for weekly pickup done on a monthly basis. No long-term agreement is required.

The Newry board members told The Sun Journal they would wait to see how Bethel selectmen take to it, since Bethel operates the station and contributes most of the trash and recyclables.

Bethel selectmen are expected to consider the proposal at their meeting on Sept. 12, according to the report.