Monday, August 19, 2024, is the last date on which food scraps will be collected as part of the successful pilot program.
By Ronni Newton
Starting May 1, 2023, nearly 700 households in West Hartford’s Morley neighborhood will be able to participate in a pilot program for voluntary food waste collection and unit-based pricing, but that program will end on August 19, 2024.
The pilot program, in which 45 to 50 percent of participants took part according to the city administration, was considered a success. According to the results, the participants reduced their household waste by about half.
What was originally planned as a nine-month pilot project was extended several times, particularly in recent months as officials considered implementing a citywide version of the program. That would have been funded in part by a $1.5 million grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and would have been mandatory, not voluntary. Last week, the City Council met as a committee to consider whether or not to implement the citywide pilot project. The consensus was not to move forward.
“The success of the pilot program provides valuable insight at a critical time when Connecticut is facing a garbage crisis, with 40% of its garbage being trucked as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania. Pilot program participants were able to divert an impressive 170,000 pounds of food scraps from the waste stream,” said John Phillips, public works director, in a release to the public announcing the completion of the pilot program.
“I think it’s important that the whole city knows,” Phillips told We-Ha.com, which is why the announcement of the program’s completion will be shared with the entire city.
DEEP had extended its funding of the food waste pilot project and UBP through mid-June, but Phillips said the city has been paying for Blue Earth’s continued food waste collection since then. “We didn’t want to lose momentum,” he said, while expanding to a citywide pilot project is still under consideration.
At the conclusion of last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Mayor Shari Cantor asked City Managers Rick Ledwith and Phillips to issue a request for proposals for a voluntary/optional food waste diversion program that would begin sometime in 2025 and be available to West Hartford residents.
“This new program will enable residents to continue or begin participating in this important initiative,” Phillips said in his letter.
However, since it will be many months before a new food waste collection program starts, Phillips said it is no longer feasible to continue the Morley collection.
“It’s wise to look at all options for waste reduction,” Phillips said, and the Public Works Department continues to encourage it. Options include curbside pickup as well as setting up collection points throughout the city, as Bristol, Manchester and Middletown have already done. “The goal is to keep all food scraps out of the waste stream,” he said. While such a program would not be cost-effective, it is the right way to treat these materials and “benefits the waste management industry in general.”
Residents who distributed the green bins as part of the pilot project are welcome to keep them as a “gift” from the city and may be able to continue using them if they decide to sign a personal contract with Blue Earth. Those who don’t want the food waste bins can return them to the public works department, said Katherine Bruns, the city’s recycling coordinator.
“We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all residents who participated in this pilot program. Your efforts have significantly impacted our community’s environmental footprint and paved the way for future sustainable initiatives,” Phillips said, thanking Morley pilot program participants for their support of the program.
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