Monday, Aug. 19, 2024 will be the final date food scraps will be collected through the successful pilot program.

By Ronni Newton

Since May 1, 2023, nearly 700 households in West Hartford’s Morley neighborhood have been eligible for participation in a voluntary food scrap collection and unit-based pricing pilot program, but that program will be ending as of Aug. 19, 2024.

The pilot program, which had a participation rate of 45-50% according to town officials, was deemed a success. Those who participated reduced their municipal solid waste by roughly half, results indicated.

What was intended to originally serve as a nine-month pilot was extended several times, particularly over the past several months as officials considered implementing a town-wide version of the program, funded in part by a $1.5 million grant through the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) that would have been mandatory rather than voluntary. Last week, the Town Council met as a Committee of the Whole to consider whether of not to implement the town-wide pilot, and the consensus was not to move forward.

“The success of the pilot program provides valuable insights at a critical time when Connecticut faces a waste crisis, with 40% of its waste being trucked as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania. An impressive 160,000 pounds of food scraps were diverted from the waste stream from pilot participants,” Director of Public Works John Phillips said in an announcement to the community announcing the conclusion of the pilot.

“I think it’s important that the whole town knows,” Phillips told We-Ha.com, which is why the announcement of the program’s conclusion is being shared with the entire town.

DEEP had extended its funding of the food scrap and UBP pilot through the middle of June, but Phillips said since then the town has been paying for the continued collection of food scraps by Blue Earth. “We didn’t want to lose the momentum,” he said, while the expansion to a town-wide pilot was still being considered.

At the conclusion of last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Mayor Shari Cantor asked Town Manager Rick Ledwith and Phillips to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a voluntary/opt-in food scrap diversion program that would begin sometime in 2025 and would be available to residents throughout West Hartford.

“This new program will allow residents to continue or start participating in this important initiative,” Phillips said in his letter.

Because any new food waste collection program is many months away from commencing, however, Phillips said it’s no longer feasible to continue the Morley collection.

“It’s prudent to be looking at all options to divert food waste,” said Phillips, and that continues to be encouraged by Public Works. Options include curbside collection as well as the establishing of satellite collection sites throughout town, which is something that Bristol, Manchester, and Middletown have done. “The goal is to keep all food scraps out of the waste stream,” he said, even though having a program is not cost-recoverable, he said, it is the proper way to treat these materials and “benefits waste management in general.”

Residents who have the green bins distributed as part of the pilot are welcome to keep them as a “token gift” from the town, and may be able to continue to use them if they decide to personally contract with Blue Earth. Those who don’t want the food scrap bins can bring them back to Public Works, said Katherine Bruns, the town’s recycling coordinator.

“We want to extend our deepest appreciation to all the residents who participated in the pilot program. Your efforts have significantly impacted our community’s environmental footprint and paved the way for future sustainable initiatives,” said Phillips, thanking the Morley pilot participants for their support of the program.

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