Guilford To Create Curbside Food Scrap Collection With State Grant

GUILFORD, CT — The Town of Guilford was awarded a $297,700 state grant to develop a curbside food scrap collection program, according to a recent announcement.

The grant will enable Guilford to identify a hauler to contract with Guilford residents to provide curbside collection of trash, recycling and food waste in one pickup.

A news release from the town says the goal is to eventually have more than 70 percent of Guilford households join, creating an environmentally and financially self-sustaining program for Guilford residents that will serve as a model for other communities facing Connecticut’s trash crisis.

"It is exciting to offer an option for food scrap recycling for residents who use haulers in town," said Town Engineer Janice Plaziak in a news release. "The food scrap collection program at the waste transfer station has been a great success, and we recognize that not everyone is able to get to the transfer station on a regular basis. Food scrap collection, along with unit-based pricing for trash disposal, will certainly reduce waste disposal in town."

The grant was one of $7.5 million awarded to 18 municipalities and regional organizations under DEEP’s Sustainable Materials Management Grant Program, Gov. Ned Lamont and CT-DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes announced Wednesday.

Connecticut and its municipalities were already faced with rising trash disposal costs before the closure of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority in 2022 forced them to increasingly rely on trucking waste to landfills in other states.

The state grant program provides funds for waste reduction and diversion programs and initiatives across the state.

Guilford will use the grant to issue a Request for Proposals to find a preferred gauler to offer customers curbside collection of trash and food waste using unit-based pricing (pay as you throw) bags. The grant will also fund education and outreach, as well as waste and food scrap bags and home compost buckets to help residents get started. The selected hauler will provide curbside collection without town support.

Curbside collection will make diverting food waste even easier for residents, boosting what has already been a successful effort to separate compostable food waste from household trash, the town says. Food waste is sent to Quantum Biopower in Southington, where it is used to produce energy and compost.

After implementing a pay-as-you-throw system in November, the amount of solid waste disposed of at the Guilford-Madison Transfer Station decreased by 40 percent in the first eight months, according to the town. The weight of food scraps diverted from the waste stream nearly tripled from 3.13 tons in October to 9.1 tons of food waste in June.

"Guilford residents have already stepped up to address Connecticut’s waste crisis," First Selectman Matt Hoey said in a news release. "This program will make it even easier for us to separate food scraps, and can set an example as all municipalities aim to cut down on trash."