Rep. Pizzuto Applauds Food Scraps Program Grant for Middlebury

Hartford—State Representative Bill Pizzuto (R-71) is applauding a $115,000 grant awarded to the Town of Middlebury from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant program. Middlebury, Bethel, and Kent will be joining 15 other municipalities, including Newtown, to implement innovative pilot programs to collect residential food scraps and reduce trash and collect food scraps.

DEEP is awarding $577,000 in total grant funding, including the $115,000 to Middlebury for a transfer station food scrap collection program.

“By diverting these scraps, we can reduce these certain greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the amount of food waste going to out-of-state landfills. This is also a more cost-effective management of food scraps for our municipality,” said Pizzuto.

According to DEEP, 41% of what residents throw away is organic material, such as food scraps and yard waste, that can be composted, converted to energy through anaerobic digestion or processed into animal feed. Food scraps represent 22% of residential trash. https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Waste-Management-and-Disposal/Organics-Recycling/Composting-and-Organics-Recycling.

Processed food waste compost can be used to produce organic fertilizers, which can be used to nourish soil for gardens.