Submitted by Linda Talbott, Haddam Sustainability Committee
(January 23, 2025) — Hello again to all Haddam residents who are participating in the Food Scrap recycling into compost program. This includes those residents who compost in their yards but also use the compostable bags provided to compost their meat, bones, shellfish, pastas and other grains into the Blue Earth Compost 32-gallon bins located at the Haddam Transfer Station at 750 Saybrook Road.
For those who are new residents to our town, since December 8, 2021, Haddam has been removing food scraps from the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Back then, Haddam was paying a $105/ton hauling fee for trash to go to the Trash-to-Energy Plant, Materials Innovation Recycling Authority (MIRA), which has since closed. These fees go up every year and this fiscal year Haddam is paying $131/ton to go to a plant in Preston.
Food scraps are not trash. Food can be converted into compost, which improves soil quality for plant growth and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. Haddam contracted with Hartford-based Blue Earth Compost to supply the town with 32-gallon bins into which residents place their food scraps. They come to Haddam once a week, weigh the food scraps, clean and reline the bins and haul the food scraps to an anaerobic digester called Quantum Biopower located in Southington. In 21 days this company creates compost and Quantum also converts the contained methane byproduct into Biogas, which helps to make electricity for the town of Southington.
We still have some Starter Kits at the Tax Collector’s office in the Town Office Building. For a $25 donation you get a countertop bin, a brochure, a roll of 25 compostable bags used to line the countertop bin and a 6-gallon transport bin which you then take to the Transfer Station. There also are additional rolls of compostable bags there for $5 a roll. It is not necessary to have a starter kit to participate. You can use any container you wish. You should not use biodegradable or plastic bags to hold your food scraps. A compostable bag, paper bag or no bag are all acceptable. If you are a person who has a private garbage hauler, there are free Food Scrap-only stickers at the Tax Collector’s office to place on the driver’s side of your car. You can use this sticker to enter the transfer station and dump your food scraps. Here is the report:
- December 8, 2021 to December 7, 2022: 43,405 lbs.
- December 14, 2022 to December 7, 2023: 53,175 lbs.
- December 14, 2023 to December 5, 2024: 55,450 lbs.
- Grand total:152,030 lbs. or 76 tons of food scraps have been removed from Haddam’s MSW
Thank you, Haddam residents! Tell your neighbors and friends to get involved. Email HaddamSustainablityCommittee@gmail.com if you have questions.
