Trash reduction program launched July 1

#MiddleburyCT #TrashReduction #FoodScraps

WasteZero employees, left to right John McNeill, Raianna Grant and Antonio Guerrero spend the day at the transfer station handing out bags for Middlebury’s trash reduction pilot program. The program kicked off July 1. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Middlebury’s “Cut The Trash In Half” program launched July 1. In preparation for the launch, WasteZero employees started handing out the program’s free trash bags on June 23 and were to hand them out June 27 through July 1. After that date, transfer station users who want to participate in the program can get a box of the bags from the transfer station attendant.

Middlebury joins other Connecticut towns who are participating in the pilot program aimed at separating food scraps and limiting household trash in order to save taxpayers thousands of dollars and address Connecticut’s waste crisis. Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John is encouraging residents to participate in the program.

Christine O’Neill of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments said events surrounding the program’s launch will include a recycling workshop, probably in late July or early August, so residents can learn how to recycle a wide variety of products. In addition, a community champions dinner will be held for people who want to get more deeply involved in the trash-cutting program, and there will be a limited number of food waste containers to hand out to participants. Those without a container can store food scraps temporarily in their refrigerator’s freezer compartment.

O’Neill said, “I think Middlebury will be really good with this program. I’m really excited to see it launch there.”

Transfer station users will be diverting food scraps from the waste stream and limiting the number of trash bags used each week. The pilot participants will include the approximately 1,500 households that use Middlebury’s transfer station. The program is funded through a Sustainable Materials Management grant from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, as one of many strategies to address the state’s waste disposal crisis.

Speaking at the May 1, 2023, Middlebury Board of Selectmen meeting, O’Neill said the need to ship waste as far as Pennsylvania and Ohio impacts municipal budgets and taxes as well as environmental justice issues by sending our trash to someone else’s backyard. Middlebury pays by the ton to have waste carried away, and it costs less per ton for food waste than it does for regular trash. That’s because the food waste goes to an anaerobic digester that extracts clean removable energy and creates digestate that can be used as compost or animal bedding. Instead of being shipped out of state, food waste will go to a nearby facility that charges lower fees because they recoup money by selling to the grid electricity generated from the food waste and selling the remaining digestate.

The program is designed around bags: orange bags for trash, and green bags for food scraps. Each participating household is being offered a free year’s supply of orange and green bags at the transfer station. This supply will allow for two 15-gallon trash bags per week and one 8-gallon food bag. Families are encouraged to adjust their habits to limit the amount of trash they produce, such as increasing recycling, donating textiles, and purchasing reusable instead of disposable products.

New containers will be in place at the transfer station starting July 1. Residents will deposit the green bags with their food scraps in the new containers while the orange bags with trash will go into the usual trash dumpster.

Residents are encouraged to visit the website reducethetrashct.com/middlebury to learn more about the program and to follow @NVCOGReduceTheTrash on Facebook for updates. Questions may be directed to 203-489-0351 or coneill@nvcogct.gov. The WasteZero website is wastezero.com.