Submitted by Linda Talbott and Kristin Battistoni, Haddam Sustainability Committee
(September 25, 2026) — The Town of Haddam has been awarded a Sustainable Materials Management Round 2 Grant which we are excited to announce will allow us to expand the Haddam Food Scrap diversion program. A new food scrap drop-off site will open on October 1, 2026 inside a shed placed at 11 Jail Hill Road near the Haddam Social Services office.
This site will be available every day of the week to all Haddam residents, as the main complaint we have heard is that people sometimes have a hard time getting to the Transfer Station location. Six 32-gallon Blue Earth Compost bins will remain inside the shed. Blue Earth charges a fee for each bin that has any food scraps in it, so please completely fill one bin before moving on to the next. Once all six are filled, you must use the Transfer Station Food Scrap site.
If you don’t have a Transfer Station pass, “Food Scrap Only” passes are available free of charge at the Haddam Tax office. A Blue Earth Compost truck will come and weigh the food scraps, clean and reline each used bin with a compostable bag, and transport the food to an anaerobic digester in Southington where it is converted into compost and biogas, which helps produce electricity for the Town of Southington.
The grant has allowed the Haddam Sustainability Committee to offer free starter kits, which consist of a two-gallon countertop bin, a six-gallon transport bin, a roll of two-gallon compostable bags and a brochure. Extra compostable bags and the starter kits are available at the Haddam Tax office. You are welcome to use any container you would like, but no plastic or biodegradable bags please. In order for this program to be successful, please remember to lock the shed door when you leave.
The Haddam Food Scrap Diversion program began in 2021 and has been a huge success! We have removed more than 117 tons of food scraps from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) since the program started at the Haddam Transfer Station. If you have any concerns or questions about the program, please contact Kristin Battistoni at 860-345-8531 X206 or email HaddamSustainabilityCommittee@gmail.com. Thank you to all residents who have participated in the food scrap program so far.
Funding provided by SMMR2 grant which is administered by CT DEEP.
Might as well hang a sign out for the wildlife in the surrounding area. “Buffet now Open 24/7”.. this has disaster written all over it. Yogi and Boo-boo will be feasting.