City of West Haven, CT
Program Details and Overview
Connecticut is Facing a Trash Crisis
Waste disposal capacity in the US is shrinking.
The New England region is expected to lose 40% of its trash disposal capacity in the next 5 years and up to 100% by 2040.
The MIRA incinerator in Hartford, is no longer burning trash, this facility was relied on by 35 neighboring communities, leaving them without a disposal site.
This loss of trash disposal capacity is significantly affecting West Haven.
The alternative of trucking CT trash up to 600 miles out of state is expensive and not sustainable. We need a new approach.
We Need to Reduce Waste
Food scraps make up 20% of the waste we currently throw away and can easily be converted to energy and compost right here in Connecticut.
Weekly Curbside Food Scrap Co-Collection would allow residents to recycle their food scraps with no additional transportation costs.
Removing food waste from the trash and converting those scraps into clean, renewable energy can save us money.
West Haven is Being Proactive
West Haven received a $1.3 million dollar grant from DEEP to implement a City-wide pilot program.
The pilot program will allow the City and our residents to try the program before deciding if we want to make it permanent. The co-collection pilot program is free to residents.
All households will co-collect trash and food scraps in special color-coded trash bags provided by the town.
If the town adopts the program permanently, we could realize savings of approximately $3.2 million over the first 4 years.
If we do nothing, we can expect a $1 million cost increase to the tax rate.
A permanent program has an environmental impact equal to adding 18,000 solar panels to West Haven homes each year.
It Will Be Easy to Participate
Residents will receive an allotment of 117 free colored-coded bags for the duration of the nine-month pilot:
1 green (8-gallon) food scrap bag per week for food scraps
2 orange (15-gallon) bags per week for non-recyclable household trash
Recycling of paper & cardboard and bottles & cans will continue as usual.
Residents should tie and close each of the orange and green bags and place out for collection each week.
The same truck will pick up the bags and bring them to a facility so that the food scraps can be captured and converted to green energy.
Learn more at the links at the top of the page!
The Story Map below is created by our friends at the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG), but contains relevant information and details for all of Connecticut’s residents.
More Information
For more information, please contact the City of West Haven Department of Public Works
West Haven City Hall is open Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm.
Contact
City of West Haven
355 Main Street
West Haven, CT 06516
203-937-3618