The Town of West Hartford now has added six new food scrap bins, and more are coming soon.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford began a voluntary food scrap drop-off program on Earth Day in April 2025, and the existing bins were filling up so quickly that six more have just been added, with another four to come, Recycling Coordinator Katherine Bruns said.

“This program has exceeded expectations, diverting over 100,000 pounds of food scraps from our waste stream since the program started last Earth Day,” Bruns said.

There are four new bin locations, and a second bin has been added at two places that had just a single bin. The new food scrap bin locations are:

• Vanderbilt Park – 36 Frederick Road
• Fernridge Park – 567 Fern Street (parking lot by tennis courts)
• Kennedy Park – 160 Oakwood Ave
• Cornerstone Aquatics Center – 55 Buena Vista Road

Additional bins have been added at:

• Norfeldt Field (1515 Boulevard)
• Eisenhower Park (33 Sheep Hill Drive)

In addition, there were already two bins located to the right of the main entrance to Town Hall (50 South Main Street) and a bin at the Public Works Yard Waste & Recycling Center (25 Brixton Street).

There are four more bins that will be installed next month, Bruns said. One will definitely be at Wolcott Park, and she said there are a few places still under consideration in Bishops Corner in the north end of town, as well as in the Elmwood area. Bins must be placed on town-owned property.

The free MetroKey App, available in the App Store or Google Play, is required to unlock all bins, and Bluetooth must be turned on to activate the bins. All 10 locked bins show up when MetroKey is opened, Bruns said.

The bin at the Yard Waste & Recycling Center is unlocked and does not require the app to open – but is accessible only during Yard Waste & Recycling Center business hours. A permit is not required to access the food scrap bin, but is required to utilize the other available services at the facility.

“We listened to residents,” Bruns said, noting that there is new signage on the bins, including instructions on how to operate the hands-free foot pedal.

A graphic that appears on the collection bins shows a food pyramid with what’s allowed to be discarded, and a list that includes meat, bones, dairy, eggs (including shells), fruits, vegetables, grains, sweets, and any type of processed foods. Spoiled foods – complete with mold – are accepted. Coffee grounds (and paper filters) and tea bags (minus any staples) are also acceptable.

Unacceptable items include plastic, styrofoam, metal, glass, and glass, as well as any pet waste or diapers. BPI-certified compostable bags can be used not only for transporting items to the drop-off sites, and can be placed in the bins along with their contents. If you bring your food waste in a paper bag you can drop that in as well, but regular plastic bags need to be dumped out into the bin.

“Did you know that food scraps are about 23% of what we throw away? Separating food scraps is an easy and helpful way for residents to reduce trash,” said Bruns. In addition, keeping food out of the regular trash bins keeps hungry wildlife like bears and squirrels from hunting for food in those bins. “The food scrap bins are bear and rodent-proof,” she said.

West Hartford’s food scraps are collected from the bins sent to Quantum Biopower in Southington, where they are converted into electricity and compost, according to Bruns. “To date, 1,169 residents have downloaded the required free MetroKey app to unlock the bins and are participating in the program,” she said.

The cost of the additional food scrap bins is being funded through revenue the town received from the Bottle Bill. Last fall the Town Council approved the use of $119,000 of those funds – fees collected from a five-cent-per-bottle surcharge attached to miniature alcohol containers (nips) sold in West Hartford – in part to expand the number of food scrap collection locations and containers in town as well as the emptying and transportation of the contents.

Updates to the Bottle Bill made in 2021, through Public Act 21-58, “addresses many environmental concerns, including the issue of litter caused by the careless disposal of 50ml alcohol beverage containers.” Section 10 of the Act requires that wholesale distributors collect a surcharge of five cents per miniature container sold to Connecticut package stores, track the sales, and every six months remit the fees to the towns where the bottles were sold. Towns are required to use the funds to support waste management or related environmental programming.

For more information and links to the app, visit the Public Works webpage.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.