Sustainably Dumping Food Scraps In West Hartford, What You Need To Know

Town of West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Starting on Tuesday, April 22 – Earth Day – West Hartford will launch its Food Scraps Recycling Program.

Starting that day, there will be four drop-off locations in town where people can dump their scraps:

• West Hartford Town Hall, 50 S. Main St., to the right of the main entrance.

• Eisenhower Park, 33 Sheep Hill Drive.

• Norfeldt Little League Field, 490 Park Road.

• West Hartford Yard Waste & Recycling Center, 25 Brixton St.

Food scraps will be processed locally by Quantum Biopower in Southington, town officials wrote.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates that food scraps account for about 24 percent of what people throw away.

By removing food scraps from the waste stream, the fees to dispose of trash, which are calculated by weight, are reduced. Food scrap disposal costs about 30 percent less than trash.

The first step to getting ready for the Food Scrap program is to download the free MetroKEY app to access the drop-off bin.

Next, start separating your household food scraps.

Unlike backyard composting, this commercial program accepts all food, including meat, bones, dairy, and spoiled food.

The last step is to bring the food scraps to any of the four drop-off locations at any time of day.

Once there, open your app, click the icon for your current drop-off location, press the pedal to the bottom left of the bin, the lid will open, and you can drop your food scraps inside.

Find more information on the Town's Public Works website. Email foodscraps@westhartfordct.gov. Call West Hartford Recycling Coordinator Katherine Bruns at 860-561-8107.