The Town of West Hartford has been piloting a food scrap recycling program along with a unit based pricing trial since the spring, with results indicating that a significant amount of material has been diverted from the waste stream. The pilot program, funded by a grant from the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Sustainable Materials Management (SMS) program, has been operating since May 1 in a 685-home neighborhood in the Morley School area.
Participation in the voluntary program has been close to 50%, and on average 1.37 tons of food waste has been removed from the waste stream each week, Director of Public Works John Phillips said in a report Thursday to the Town Council’s Public Works, Facilities and Sustainability Committee. On an annual basis, that would add up to 71 tons of food waste being diverted from just that neighborhood.
In anticipation of receiving the SMS grant last year, the Town Council adopted a resolution committing to evaluate the pilot to determine future actions as a “foundation upon which the Town shall develop future priorities, legislation, policies, plans, budgets, and actions.”