海角换妻 and beyond, rotting food is an issue. In landfills it generates methane, that traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Reducing food waste is a small piece of a large puzzle to solutions of slowing down 鈥� it鈥檚 also part of how 海角换妻 is approaching a looming waste crisis, of which 鈥渃hallenges remain pretty significant鈥� DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes has previously said.
The state鈥檚 trash issue became more pronounced when MIRA, a major waste-to-energy facility in Hartford, closed 鈥� leaving a hole in where thousands of tons of garbage would go. Right now, 40% of 海角换妻's waste is still being shipped hundreds of miles away to Pennsylvania and Ohio, which DEEP said is not sustainable.
鈥淲e're likely to see loss of landfill capacity within the next 10 years,鈥� Jennifer Perry, DEEP鈥檚 materials management and compliance assurance bureau chief, said. 鈥淚ncreasing your transportation costs, the environmental impacts of shipping that waste out of state, the farther you ship it as well. So we've seen a significant increase in the cost of disposal, and we expect to see that continue to escalate.鈥�
Food scraps from the landfills make up about 22% of 海角换妻鈥檚 residential garbage, most recent state estimates found.
This week Gov. Ned Lamont鈥檚 office and the Department of Environment and Energy Protection (DEEP) announced that $7.5 million more is being made available to help municipalities.
鈥楾he details really matter鈥�
The bond money was authorized last session, to help with the infrastructure side of the solution like building compost facilities and upgrading transfer stations.
About 2.5 million pounds of food scraps were diverted out of the waste stream through the original pilot programs, DEEP said.
鈥淭his is one way to allow our residents and our municipalities to have a direct impact and to be able to reduce their impacts on the environment,鈥� Perry said.
鈥淎ll towns are sort of facing the waste crisis in their own ways,鈥� said Emma Cimino, deputy commissioner of DEEP鈥檚 Environmental Quality Branch. 鈥淏ut the solutions will look different for different towns. We know what strategies work, that's what the pilots taught us. But we also know that the details really matter.
included transfer station dropoff, to curbside collection programs. Madison, Kent, Bethel, Guilford, Woodbury and Middletown ended up making their programs permanent.
Looking forward
The latest investment comes on the heels of the state announcing the next recipients of $15 million in grants. Of the 20 applications submitted, eight were selected, including two regional entities.
鈥淥ur plans for food composting will save money with reduced transport costs and lower dumping fees,鈥� Coventry Town Manager Jim Drumm said. 鈥淓nvironmentally, it will reduce the use of landfill space, and it will produce a quality compost product that we can provide to our residents for use in their yards and gardens.鈥�
Stratford, Mansfield, Manchester and Greenwich also received state funds for their projects.
Larger municipalities, including New Haven will also benefit 鈥� Mayor Justin Elicker said they plan to use the over $3 million to build a modern food scrap diversion sorting facility, which he says will help with the launch of residential curbside composting city-wide.
According to , a science nonprofit which looks at accelerating climate solutions, food waste accounts for .
Up in the Capitol, part of a state now in Appropriations would require places like conference centers and supermarkets to have a policy for donating excess food.
鈥淭he first preference for tackling the waste crisis is to reduce the amount of waste in the first place,鈥� Cimino said.
