PROGRAM DETAILS

Connecticut is Facing a Trash Crisis

• Waste disposal capacity in the US is shrinking.

• The New England region is expected to lose 40% of its trash disposal capacity in the next 5 years and up to 100% by 2040.

• The MIRA incinerator in Hartford, is no longer burning trash. 35 communities in the state relied on that facility for trash disposal and now that material is brought to the remaining facilities, increasing pricing for all CT municipalities, including Middletown.

• Siting a new incinerator or landfill in our community is not a good option.

• The alternative of trucking CT trash up to 600 miles out of state is expensive and not sustainable.

• We need a new approach!

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We Need to Reduce Waste

• Food scraps make up 20% of the waste we currently throw away and can easily be converted to energy and compost right here in Connecticut.

• Weekly Curbside Food Scrap Co-Collection would allow residents to recycle their food scraps with no additional transportation costs.

• Removing food waste from the trash and converting those scraps into clean, renewable energy can save us money.

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Middletown is Being Proactive

• Middletown received a $355,000 dollar grant from DEEP to implement a co-collection pilot program in the City Sanitation District.

• The pilot program will allow the City and our residents to try the program before deciding if we want to make it permanent.The co-collection pilot program is free to Sanitation District customers.

• All households, and some small businesses, will co-collect trash and food scraps in special color-coded trash bags provided by the town.

• If the town adopts the program permanently, we could realize savings of approximately $1.2 million over the first 4 years - savings that would help to lower your trash bill!

• A permanent program has an environmental impact equal to adding 3,200 solar panels to Middletown homes each year, that's more than one per house!*

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It Will Be Easy to Participate

• Residents will receive an allotment of free colored-coded bags for the duration of the pilot:

  • 1 green (8-gallon) food scrap bag per week for food scraps

  • 2 orange (15-gallon) tall kitchen bags per week for non-recyclable household trash

• Recycling of paper & cardboard and bottles & cans will continue as usual.

• Residents should tie and close each of the orange and green bags and place out for collection each week.

• The same truck will pick up the bags and bring them to a facility so that the food scraps can be captured and converted to green energy.

• Learn more at the links at the top of the page!