A proposal from the Town of West Hartford, CT to achieve effective, equitable trash reduction through pilot program designed to combat our current and growing waste crisis.

1. Time to talk trash!
WASTE WORKING GROUP, SUSTAINABLE WH COMMISSION
Morley Pilot Program Funding by CT DEEP’s Sustainable Materials Management Grant Program

2. West Hartford’s
Waste crisis
OUR MOST URGENT SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE:
NOT ENOUGH SPACE
FOR THE WASTE
WE CREATE

3. trash is toxic
NOTHING BECOMES COMPOST IN A LANDFILL
Landfills are designed for storage, not decomposition
Landfills leach toxic sludge into groundwater, and vent
methane (23x more powerful GHG than CO2) into the air

4. Covanta, Bristol
WIN Waste,
Bridgeport
Covanta, Preston
WIN Waste, Lisbon
where we send our trash
4 REMAINING INCINERATORS
CAN ONLY HANDLE 60% OF
CONNECTICUT’S WASTE
NO NEW LANDFILLS OR
INCINERATORS ON
THE HORIZON

5. Where does
remaining
40% Go?
TRUCKED OUT OF STATE
Source: NVCOG Story Map,
July 12th, 2023

6. Economics / Environment / Equity
“AWAY” IS SOMEONE’S HOME
• Travel distances and disposal costs increase as options disappear
• Disposal facilities create toxic air and water pollution
• Usually located near marginalized communities

7. 69% OF WHAT GOES INTO TRASH BAGS
SHOULDN’T BE THERE
Anatomy of a trash bag
(SPOILER ALERT: IT’S NOT ALL TRASH)
Donatable
Goods
Yard
Waste
Food
Scraps
Recycling
Actual
Trash
31% 22% 20% 17% 10%

8. Wasted Waste
MOST WASTE COULD BE DIVERTED TO RENEWABLE USES
Biogas Fertilizer Compost Reuse
CT Data, Source: DEEP 2015
Donatable Goods
Yard Waste
Food Scraps Recycling
Actual Trash
31% 22% 20% 17% 10%

9. Wishcycling
WE CAN’T RECYCLE OUR WAY OUT
17% of our trash is actually recyclable waste, and
only 1/3 of what could be recycled makes it into the recycling bin,
BUT...
Much of what gets thrown in the recycling bin ISN’T recyclable
Most things can only be recycled 1-2 times before they are too degraded for use
X% can’t be recycled by our current facilities
X% ends up as trash in a landfill
Recycling HELPS, but isn’t the solution to this problem.
SPOILER: THE REAL SOLUTION IS LESS WASTE

10. Change is
unavoidable
WHAT WE’RE DOING ISN’T WORKING.

11. So, what are our options?
A
DEAL WITH IT
AS INDIVIDUALS
Drive to the dump
or hire a private hauler
LET THE TOWN
DEAL WITH IT
Pay increasingly more
for trash in taxes
WORK
TOGETHER
Utilize new waste services
and properly sort trash
B C

12. Morley Pilot
Program
BEST IN THE NATION!

13. Fair Trash Reduction
UNIT-BASED PRICING (UBP) + FOOD SCRAP DIVERSION

14. What is
Unit-Based
Pricing (UBP)?
PAYING FOR TRASH BY THE BAG
Morley Pilot Program: “UBP Lite”
Metering trash by using bags, no pricing thus far

15. Why UBP?
WASTE AWARENESS = TRASH REDUCTION
TWICE THE
POPULATION,
HALF THE TRASH
VS
UBP REDUCES WASTE BY 40-50%
UBP
TRADITIONAL

16. Before: 10 regular bags After: 2 UBP bags, 1 food scrap bag
FEWER PLASTIC BAGS, LESS WASTED WASTE
EXACT
SAME
WASTE
UBP is efficient
SORTED PROPERLY:

17. UBP is tried-and-true
JOIN COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE GLOBE:
• HALF OF MASSACHUSETTS
• ALL OF MINNESOTA
• MUNICIPAL SERVICE IN OR, VT, WA
• DRESDEN, GERMANY
• PARMA, ITALY
• VIENNA, AUSTRIA
• SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
• TAIPEI, TAIWAN
• KYOTO, JAPAN

18. • Heavier to haul
• Harder to burn
• Slower to decompose
• Wasted valuable resource
Source: WH Trash Audit December 2023
Why Food Scrap
Diversion?
FOOD DOESN’T BELONG
IN THE TRASH

19. Trash (Municipal Solid Waste) creates 14% of
all US methane emissions, and food scraps
create 8% of global GHG emissions.
Diverting Food Scraps
is renewable
REDUCES METHANE,
CREATES ENERGY
& ORGANICS
Source: EPA

20. Diverting
Food Scraps
is Economical...
• $97/TON TO DISPOSE AS TRASH
• $61/TON TO DISPOSE
AS FOOD SCRAP

21. 18,734 (current WH waste in tons)
PROJECTED REDUCTION
15,549
17%
55%
8,430
Food Scrap
Diversion alone
UBP + Food Scrap
Diversion
Source: Waste Zero 2024
...But not on its own
UBP pays for both
SAVINGS FROM UBP WASTE REDUCTION FUND FOOD SCRAP DIVERSION

22. Morley Pilot results
PARTICIPATING HOUSEHOLDS PRODUCED HALF THE TRASH!
Source: WH Waste Audit December 2023
Pilot Participant
Non-Participant
19 lbs
38 lbs/wk
59% of trash was recyclable,
food scraps, or donatable
CURRENT
WASTE MODEL
UBP + FOOD SCRAP
DIVERSION

23. UBP + Food Scrap Diversion
A WINNING COMBINATION FOR WASTE REDUCTION
Per person, per year
2023 Waste Data
Stonington, CT
West Hartford, CT
CURRENT
WASTE MODEL
UBP + FOOD SCRAP
DIVERSION
325 lbs
679 lbs

24. 90% Positive Feedback
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY:
I am paying a lot more attention
to what I recycle
I hadn’t realized how much food
I throw away
I only throw away one bag a
week now
My trash is less stinky
I love the program
I had always wanted to try
composting
We really like it
Took a few weeks to get used to
but much easier than the way
we did stuff before
Marvelous
Love the program. Hardly use
garbage disposal
Can’t believe how much (food)
we were wasting. We really like
it.
The program has been great and
we have definitely reduced our
non-food trash.
We have no trouble sorting out
our food scraps and I do feel like
I’m taking the trash out less.
I feel like we are wasting less
food because we are aware of it.
Once you get used to it it’s easy
to do.
I’m not good with change but
this was an easy change
We already have very high taxes
Too much plastic
It’s just one more thing the town
asks us to do.

25. Building on
Success
WEST HARTFORD IS EXPLORING
A TOWN-WIDE PILOT

26. Town-Wide Pilot
ONE-YEAR TRIAL (FUNDED BY DEEP):
1 FREE
TRASH BAG/WK.
(15 gallon, orange)
1 FREE
FOOD SCRAP BAG/WK.
(8 gallon, green)
1 FREE
FOOD SCRAP PAIL
(and weekly collection)
$1 PER ADDITIONAL TRASH BAG

27. CURRENT BAG USAGE UBP BAG USAGE
weekly bag usage
LOW TYPICAL HIGH
2
10
LOW TYPICAL HIGH
1
2
4
15+
Source: WH Waste Audit December 2023

28. Affordable WEEKLY BAG COST FOR AN
AVERAGE WH HOUSEHOLD:
* Average cost of kitchen bags at local Costo ($0.09) and Stop and Shop ($0.15)
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1 (free)
1 (free)
recyclables (free)
2
EXACT
SAME
WASTE
10 BAGS/WK. @ $0.12/BAG* =
$1.25
1 ORANGE BAG/WK. @ $1/BAG =
$1

29. flexible
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR UNIQUE NEEDS
• ECONOMIC HARDSHIP
• ADULT DIAPERS
• TRIPLETS

30. Pay private haulers
Like 33% of Connecticut
pay in taxes
Current WH approach
pay per bag
Proposed solution
Controls Costs

31. What the trash
Industry says:
• LET’S STUDY THIS MORE
• LET’S WAIT AND SEE

32. We studied
• MULTIPLE COUNTRIES
• MULTIPLE STATES
• MULTIPLE CITIES (HALF OF MA)
• DECADES (OVER 30 YEARS)
• WH PILOT (SUCCESSFUL)

33. We waited
• Added recycling of electronics, paint, mattresses, etc.
• Started replacing 95-gallon barrels with 65-gallon barrels
• Hired a Recycling Coordinator
• Tested weekly recycling collection (2016-2019)
2013 2018
WH waste in tons
2023
19,525 19,551 19,656 19,553 18,824 18,674 18,246 18,617 19,339 18,332 18,227
NO MEANINGFUL WASTE REDUCTION.
Source: WH Public Works 2023

34. WH HAD THE CHANCE TO CUT OUR TRASH IN HALF IN 2016.
WHAT WILL WE CHOOSE IN 2024?
What waiting costs us
Savings lost since 2016
$6.6 Million
Projected loss over next 10 years
$11.2 million
$18.8 MILLION IN NEEDLESS WASTE EXPENSES
Source: Waste Zero 2024

35. Costs to economics, environment, and equity are rising.
Our disposal options are disappearing.
The only real solution is to
reduce our waste.

36. BUYING THROWING
How can we reduce
our trash?
• Avoid single-use ANYTHING
• Bring your own bag/decline packaging
• Buy fewer packaged foods
• Choose solid/refillable cleaning products
• Buy local (avoid shipping)
• Recycle what can be recycled
• Compost your food scraps
• Drop yard waste at the Recycling Center
• Donate whatever you can
• Fill your bags before throwing

37. TOWN-WIDE ONE-YEAR PILOT DECISION JUNE 11
Funded by CT DEEP
ASK TOWN COUNCIL TO EXPAND THE
UBP + FOOD SCRAP PILOT.
let’s cut our trash in half!

38. Support Fair Trash Reduction
WRITE OUR
TOWN COUNCIL
• Ask your neighbors to write as well
• Invite us to present at your organization
• Join the Waste Working Group