KENT, Conn.—Kent has been chosen to receive a $408,500 grant to expand the recycling program and on-site composting at its transfer station.
The allocation, part of $7.5 million in Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) grants announced by Governor Ned Lamont last week, will be channeled through the Housatonic Resource Recovery Authority (HRRA).
HRRA received $1,542,527 under the second round of DEEP’s Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant Program to support deployment of additional satellite food scraps collection units; a new aerated static pile composting system in Bethel; the expansion of the aerated static pile composting system in Newtown; waste diversion enhancements and improvements in Ridgefield and Kent, and associated regional support equipment.
Kent’s portion of the grant will be used to build a new retaining wall at the transfer station to increase structural integrity and to prevent cross-contamination, to build a shed, to place a canopy over the recycling bins, and to provide a permanent scale for the food scraps program to allow precise tracking of the recycling effort.
Jennifer Heaton-Jones, HRRA executive director, said at a press conference held at the transfer station Tuesday, Nov. 4, that this is a “significant step forward.”
“Connecticut has a waste crisis,” she said. “We have more trash than we can manage, and it impacts everyone. Everyone contributes to the waste we produce, and we all share responsibility in how to handle that waste. The waste crisis needs action from everyone, individually and collectively.”
She lauded Kent, a town of 3,000 people, for the leadership it has demonstrated in waste reduction. Three years ago, Kent was awarded a $55,000 grant to develop and implement a pilot program to separate and compost food scraps and a Save-As-You-Throw program at the transfer station. The first year proved to be a success, with Kent achieving an initial organic material capture rate of 20 to 30 percent.
Residents removed 22 tons of food scraps and 28 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the first months of the program. That capture rate jumped dramatically to around 70 percent after the town implemented unit-based pricing (“Save As You Throw”) in June 2024. Residents pay for disposal based on the amount of MSW they bring to the transfer station.
Kent’s high capture rate of 70 percent places it among the leading participants in this state initiative and it was one of 15 municipalities in Connecticut to receive a Materials Management Infrastructure (MMI) grant from DEEP to fund this initiative.
Connecticut continues to face a growing waste crisis, however. With the closure of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA), municipalities have fewer disposal options located within Connecticut’s borders, causing communities to rely increasingly on trucking waste to landfills in other states.
The SMM grant program helps municipalities and regional entities respond to this crisis by providing funds to develop and implement a wide variety of waste diversion and reduction programs and initiatives.
State Representative Maria Horn and state Senator Stephen Harding were present at the press conference. Harding said Kent has been “a shining example of addressing our waste crisis in an efficient and environmentally friendly way,” while Horn termed Kent “a real leader” in the effort thanks to “a lot of people who are committed to making it work.”
She said that she is proud that its efforts are being recognized by the state and noted that grant money often tends to gravitate toward areas with denser populations. “That makes some sense,” she agreed, “but if you don’t address it head on, you’ve lopped off the rural areas. DEEP has responded responsibly.”
She said that there are a lot of bureaucratic hurdles in Connecticut when it comes to receiving grants and promised to do what she can to expedite delivery of the funds.
Other towns in the region have also received grants through the second round of funding:
- Cornwall: $15,000 to support the engineering and design of a new aerated static pile composting facility;
- Litchfield: $99,556 to support the development of a transfer station-based unit-based pricing system and food scraps recycling program;
- Northwest Hills Council of Governments: $350,000 to support the operations and expansion of the Northwest Regional Waste Authority;
- Sharon/Salisbury: $266,692 to support the development of a transfer station-based unit-based pricing system and food scraps recycling program, and
- Warren: $92,465 to support the development of a transfer station-based unit-based pricing system and food scraps recycling program.
Andrea Schoeny contributed to this report.
The waste crisis is self inflicted.
Why would the state of CT vote to put MIRA’s capacity offline before having a viable alternative plan to absorb MIRA’s waste management capacity. Seems like the crisis was created because no viable plan was implemented in advance of the shutdown. Self inflicted ?