Middletown soon will be doing its part to reduce food waste going to local landfills by providing Blue Earth Compost receptacles for businesses in the sanitation district. The initiative, which will be rolled out in phases, has been dubbed The Feed the Earth campaign.

Stakeholders, including the Hartford-based company’s owner Samuel King and city recycling coordinator Kim O’Rourke, explained the program during a recent Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce meeting. “With the imminent closing of the [Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority] trash facility in Hartford, the state is heading toward a trash crisis,” O’Rourke said. “We will not have enough in-state capacity to handle the amount of trash generated.”

The city does not use the Hartford facility, but the shutdown is expected to affect costs “across the board for incinerators in the state,” King said. Commercial entities in the downtown corridor, as well as hospitals and schools, will be included in the program, King said. In all, 80 new locations will be added. King estimated the company will be picking up between 25 tons and 30 tons per week.

To read the full story, visit https://www.middletownpress.com/middletown/article/Middletown-partners-with-composting-firm-on-free-16089918.php.
Author: Cassandra Day, The Middletown Press
Image: Zoe Chatfield, The Middletown Press

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