Proper disposal of leftover household food will soon be much easier in Middletown, courtesy of a state grant that will fund a pilot program intended to divert tons of pounds of scraps from the waste stream. The city will be using $350,000, its portion of $5 million in state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Sustainable Materials Management money, earmarked for 15 municipalities and three regional groups in Connecticut.
Officials gathered at the highway garage on Washington Street recently to share the news. Sanitation district customers are the only ones eligible to participate at this time, according to Middletown Recycling Coordinator Kim O’Rourke, who said the department pays $90.64 per ton for trash sent to Murphy Road Recycling in Hartford.
Food waste comprises about 22 percent of the waste stream, O’Rourke said. “We estimate this year-long pilot project will reduce waste up to 40 percent (approximately 2,500 tons),” O’Rourke explained. It will also increase recycling, offer curbside collection of food scraps, and ultimately reduce costs to customers in the sanitation district. “If we can pull that material out of the trash stream, it would be significant, and have an impact on what needs to be sent to landfills and incinerators,” she added. Other area municipalities receiving money include Deep River, Guilford and Madison.