City Considers Curbside Compost

The Elicker administration might build out a food scrap collection program as part of the city’s regular weekly trash pickups — if New Haven is successful in its application for a $3.3 million state grant.

The Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) committee endorsed that food-waste-diversion grant application Thursday night during its latest meeting in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.

City climate director Steve Winter pitched the committee alders on allowing the city to apply for and potentially accept a Materials Management Infrastructure Grant from Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

If successful, the city plans to use the $3,347,876 grant to construct a food scrap diversion sorting facility at the New Haven transfer station and employ people to execute the program. 

In the proposed collection model, residents would separate their food scraps in one bag and their trash in another, placing both bags into the same curbside trash bin. The city would then continue to pick up the carts as usual and turn the food scraps into compost and biogas through an anaerobic digester.

Compostable food scraps include fruits, vegetables, bones, egg shells, paper products, coffee grounds, tea bags, nuts, and plants.

“Connecticut is currently in a waste disposal crisis,” city Sustainability Policy Analyst & Engagement Coordinator HannahZoe Chua-Reyes said in support of the proposal during Thursday’s meeting.

The majority of Connecticut trash is burned at aging incineration facilities, which have tipping fees of about $100 per ton. Incineration releases toxins that worsen asthma and respiratory illnesses and can increase risks of cancer and reproductive and developmental issues.

Food scraps make up 20 – 25 percent of the burned waste stream, according to Chua-Reyes. The grant-application resolution before the alders states, ​“Diverting food scraps from the waste stream can help mitigate the financial risk of rising tipping fees, improve air quality, and provide soil-building nutrients.”

But what if hungry critters get to the leftovers first? Beaver Hills Alder Gary Hogan said he has seen residents composting with plastic bags in his neighborhood but ​“one of the issues is that we have wildlife in Beaver Hills.” Animals like coyotes and possums would bite open the bags, acting as non-state-sanctioned digesters. 

Winter clarified that this proposed collection plan would not create the same issue, since the toter bins residents already use for their trash bags would also protect the food scrap bags. 

“I do think education and enforcement is the main challenge,” said Winter. To address this concern, he suggested hiring enforcement officers to go door-to-door, informing the public about composting protocols. Winter imagines potential collaborations with schools, restaurants, Peels & Wheels, and other cities. 

Given that the grant is a state bond, Winter said federal cuts should not impact the feasibility of funding but could create delays. 

The alders unanimously voted in support of the resolution. East Rock Alder and CSEP Committee Chair Anna Festa reflected on her own mother’s composting inclinations. ​“She was green before green was even a thing,” said Festa. ​“I’m in favor of this item, I hope we get this money to be able to take advantage of this composting because the end result is obviously a positive one.”

This grant application comes as the city has already installed three public composting bins in Wooster Square, Fair Haven, and downtown as part of a pilot program to help divert food scraps from the landfill.