Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and City of Meriden Announce Food Scrap Co-Collection Pilot Program
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the City of Meriden announced the launch of “Making Meriden Green,” a first-of-its-kind municipal food scrap co-collection pilot program that will demonstrate how waste diversion and reduction solutions can help to address the statewide waste disposal crisis. The pilot, funded through a $40,000 DEEP Save Money and Reduce Trash (SMART) grant, will enroll 1,000 Meriden households in a free four-month program to test an innovative way of separating valuable organic material from other household waste. Food scraps and other organic waste will be collected and transported to Quantum Biopower, where it will be transformed into renewable energy (biogas) through anaerobic digestion, or composted for use as nutrient-rich soil or fertilizer.