The towns of the Tri-Town Transfer Station, as well as the Greenwood and Woodstock Transfer Station, are weighing whether to adopt a new collection method that would recycle organic garbage.

Bethel, Newry and Hanover comprise the Tri-Town facility. Recently, Newry selectmen were the first to discuss the “organic recovery” process, where food scraps are collected separately at the transfer station, sent to a processing center and ultimately used in electricity generation.

The center is Agri-Cycle Energy in the Penobscot County town of Exeter. The Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments is coordinating involvement of interested towns in this region, according to Bethel Town Manager Christine Landes.

For homeowners, the process involves collecting the garbage in a plastic bag in a separate waste container and bringing it to the Transfer Station, bag and all.

Landes said special countertop containers may be made available that would allow people to drop food scraps into a bag liner, with the container closing automatically to avoid attracting fruit flies.

Food scraps could include vegetable and fruit peels, dairy products, meat, fish, bones, bread, rice, pasta, coffee grounds, filters, tea bags, egg shells and even soiled paper and compostable products.

The service would cost Tri-Town $78 a month for weekly pickup of the material, and it is done on a month to month basis, so no long-term agreement is required, Landes said.

Disposing of organic garbage through composting would remove significant weight from the waste stream, thus decreasing the cost of disposal.

“I think it’s the future,” Newry Selectman Jim Largess said at a recent board meeting.

While supportive of the idea, the Newry board members said 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 it at their meeting on Sept. 12, according to Landes.

Logistically, town officials are considering extending a concrete pad that station bathroom facilities will sit on to accommodate a fenced-in pen to collect the material, she said. The fence would keep out bears and other animals.

The Greenwood Woodstock Transfer Station board is also considering adopting the food scrap recycling process, according to Greenwood Town Manager Kim Sparks.

For more on the process go to Agri-Cycle’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/search/566412380145564/ local_search?surface=tyah.