As the Lincoln County Composts project builds, Maine Department of Environmental Protection's Mark King said the important thing is to grab repeat customers.

King spoke Tuesday during the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting about the compost project, which started this summer.

King said this is the first time he has been involved with a county-wide project.

“What we're trying to accomplish is pull out as much organic material out of the waste stream as we can,” he said. “As it gains momentum, more people will join. The whole key is it can't cost money, and it can't take time.”

King said Lincoln County is getting its compost the right way, by focusing on homes first before expanding to businesses.

“The way I like to do it go through citizens first, then try to recruit the businesses,” he said. “Businesses can come and go, or they might decide to drop out, and then you're at a loss.

“If you go to community members first, you get a good bottom line.”

King stressed starting small and building the program up over time.

“The goal is to get them to come out on a regular basis,” King said. “You start off with 25 (people), then you go out and get another 25. After you get those 50 people on board, you can go out and get businesses.

“I go slow; it means I make less mistakes.”

In Farmington, where King helped bring the recycling online, he said the center earns upwards of $30 per truckload of fresh compost.

By starting slow, any problems the recycling program might face can be worked out quickly, King said, adding that mistakes should be cleared up before the large-volume users, like private businesses, get into the mix.

Speaking of the mix, the way the different materials are arranged and mixed will become more important when there are more farms offering up manure and more families dropping off food scraps.

“It's not rocket science,” King said. “But it does require care.”

The Lincoln County Compost accepts compost from noon to 3 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays on Huntoon Hill in Wiscasset.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 207-633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen