Trash and Recycling

Trash and Recycling

Household Trash and Recyclables Collection

The Town has contracted with Casella Waste, Inc. (as of July 1, 2020)  to collect household trash and recyclables from every home and apartment building of three units or less. The trash should be placed at curbside either in a trash bag with the appropriate Town trash tag tied at the top of standard trash bag, or in a tied Town trash bag, if any Gorham trash bags are still available.  Gorham Trash Tags can be purchased in local stores.

Effective January 1, 2021 Gorham trash bags will no longer be distributed to local stores.  Residents with Town trash bags can still use those they possess until supplies are exhausted. 

Special Town trash tags can be purchased at a variety of area retailers.  Town trash tags can be purchased in sheets (5 tags per sheet) and cost $7.50 per pink sheet for 15-gallon trash bags or smaller and $15.00 per yellow sheet for 33-gallon trash bags or smaller.  Tags are tied at the top of a standard trash bag of the appropriate size and placed at the curb for pick up.

Recycling just got easier!
 
As of May 7, 2007, there is no need to sort or separate recyclables by type. Simply combine all glass, metal, paper, *cardboard (*must be 2 feet x 2 feet or smaller to be collected), and plastics into one recycling container and place it at curbside on your trash pick-up day. For more information on recycling please check out the link to 'Frequently Asked Questions' at the bottom of this page.

You may also bring your household recyclables to the silver bullet units at Public Works on 80 Huston Rd. These recycling bins are available for residents to drop off recyclables if they miss curbside collection or have more than will fit in their bins. Please visit the FAQ ‘What are silver bullet units?’ for a list of acceptable items. No items should be left outside these units, recyclable or not. Note: These units are monitored by cameras for the purpose of identifying illegal dumping.

Ecomaine Tour and Recyclopedia Tool

Ever wonder what happens to your recycleables after they are hauled away? CLICK HERE to take a tour inside Ecomaine's Portland recycling facility with video footage courtesy of our GOCAT team.

Do you have recycling or waste-related questions? Use the ecomaine Recyclopedia to type in what you are looking to dispose of and find your answer in just one click.


Collection Holidays

There will be no trash or recycling collection on the following four holidays:

  1. New Years Day, January 1st
  2. Independence Day, July 4th
  3. Thanksgiving Day, last Thursday in November
  4. Christmas, December 25th

Homes that are scheduled for trash pick up on those four holidays are picked up the next day. For example, if July 4 is on a Monday, and your normal trash collection day is Monday, your trash will be picked up on Tuesday. This pushes trash and recycling collection for the rest of the week back one day. Tuesday's routes will be collected Wednesday, Wednesday's routes will be collected on Thursday and Thursday's routes will be collected on Friday. The following week we will return to the normal collection schedule.

Storm events may also cause similar schedule changes - check the Town of Gorham website, Facebook, or call the Public Works Department 222-4950 for schedule changes.


Pick-up Schedule

Trash and recycling should be at the curb by 7am on your scheduled pick up day.

If your road or street is not listed in the schedule, call Public Works 222-4950.


Private Road Collection

The contractor will collect trash on a private road that is constructed to Town private road specifications, provided that all of the property owners along the private road sign a waiver of liability and receive approval by the Public Works Director. If the property owners do not want to sign a waiver of liability, then the trash will need to be taken out to the public road for collection.


How Do I Find Out More?
 

For additional information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

You can also contact Public Works by phone at 222-4950 or by email.

Learn more about recycling in our community by visiting EcoMaine.  

See the recycling guideline flyer below.

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PDF icon recyclingguidelinesfortheweb.pdf1.27 MB