WARREN - Earlier this year the Maine Department of Environmental Protection offered 27,000 tons of automobile trunk upholstery remnants to the business with the best plan for how to reuse it. This week, the agency awarded the job to Somerville, Mass.-based Triumvirate Environmental, which plans to recycle the material into composite lumber. 

The synthetic material was brought to 70-acre site off Route 90 for use as fill in constructing soundproofing and shot-containing berms for a shooting range. Only 20-percent of the material was ever incorporated into the landscape of the now-defunct business. The rest was left in massive piles on the back lot of the property where it was was judged to pose a serious fire hazard.

The DEP’s request for proposals recommended the material be used as an alternative fuel — Dragon Cement of Thomaston was named as a possible buyer — or some other beneficial use to be determined by the applicant. A number of ideas were vetted at an open house at the site in August. Among the companies that looked at the material was a landscaping company that considered grinding it into synthetic mulch.

DEP Project manager Michael Parker said queries at the open house ran the gamut. Ten parties attended the event and Parker said the department had received 20 requests for the RFP application at that time. In the end, the agency received four proposals.

The fuzzy polyester and polypropylene carpet-like material is chemically stable, according to the DEP and does not pose a risk of leaching contaminants or causing odors. However, the agency did not want it simply put in a landfill.

Triumvirate’s proposal would include a new processing facility on site in a high-tech, enclosed structure, according to a press release from the DEP. The company, which operates a facility in Eliot, Maine, expects to create a minimum of eight new jobs, with as many as 16 employees when in full production mode, not including indirect jobs related to the business.

Governor Paul R. LePage, in a statement issued Tuesday, applauded the DEP for finding a solution that benefits both the local economy and the environment.

“This award proves that environmental stewardship and job creation can be done together,” he said. “By viewing the fiber as a resource, Triumvirate Environmental is creating a value-added product to what was once considered waste.” 

Triumvirate Environmental plans to process the entire 27,000 tons of fiber into finished product by the end of December 2016, according to the release from the DEP. Mike Farrell, Triumvirate’s Disposal Coordinator, will be managing the project. He is a Unity College graduate with a B.S. in Environmental Science and has over 13 years of environmental industry experience. 

According to the DEP, the low-impact recycling project will benefit the Town of Warren, which has been waiting years for the fiber to be removed. 

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com