Reuse and Waste Prevention Resources

Food Waste Prevention Week in Connecticut

Governor Ned Lamont declared April 1-7, 2024 as 

Connecticut Food Waste Prevention Week

Find the Proclamation here:

CT DEEP Press Release

Connecticut Celebrates Food Waste Prevention Week April 1-7, 4/3/2024

Waste Prevention, Recovery and Diversion Resources

CET's CT Food Waste Estimation Guidance

The Connecticut Commercial Organics Recycling Law says: “On and after January 1, 2022, each commercial food wholesaler or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, resort or conference center that generates a projected annual volume of 26 tons or more per year of source-separated organic materials (SSOM) AND is located not more than 20 miles from an authorized source-separated organic material composting facility must comply with this law” (CT DEEP).

CET has compiled industry data from published reports and studies, which can be used as guidance for facilities with little to no current SSOM diversion program in place. The purpose of this tool is to help businesses and institutions in Connecticut determine whether it is likely they are subject to the Connecticut Commercial Organics Recycling Law. The law’s SSOM threshold of 26 tons per year equals 0.5 tons per week, which is reflected in the sample calculations below. Actual SSOM generated can vary widely from one business to another. If your business is currently tracking or diverting SSOM, you may dispose of less SSOM than indicated by the industry averages.

CET will continue to refine and add metrics as updated or improved data becomes available. This tool was last updated in January 2023. The sources used to develop this SSOM estimation guide can be found at the bottom of this webpage.

Individual results may vary depending on preparation methods and materials, reuse of leftovers, and type of food service. For example, a tray-less dining policy reduces post-consumer SSOM in cafeterias compared with traditional tray service.

Connecticut Food Waste Estimation Guidance - CET Wasted Food Solutions (cetonline.org)

Assisted Living Facilities

Colleges and Universities

Corporate Cafeterias

Correctional Facilities

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Hospitals

Lodging and Hotels

Restaurants

Supermarkets and Grocery Stores

Venues and Events

School Chemical Safety Trainings—2024, Next webinar 4/18/24

Live Virtual Trainings for Middle & High School Faculty, Administrators, and Facility Operations Managers

All trainings start at 1:30 p.m. ET. The trainings have been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under a Healthy Communities cooperative assistance agreement.

• 4/18/2024 Evaluation of Chemical Risk Using Safety Data Sheets
• 5/2/2024 Writing a Chemical Hygiene Plan: How and Why
• 5/9/2024 Facilities Managers: Roles and Responsibilities
• 5/16/2024 Student Safety in the Lab
• 5/23/2024 Student Safety in the Art Room
• 5/30/2024 Student Safety in the Industrial Tech/Shop Area
• 8/8/2024 Inspection Strategies for Fire Inspectors and Insurance Carriers
• 8/15/2024 School Administrator and Insurance Carrier: Roles and Responsibilities

2024 CRC Webinar Series

What do we recycle in Connecticut?

This series of CRC workshops is intended to help Connecticut’s Recycling Coordinator’s and other professionals to engage with the public for improved outreach and education to enhance Connecticut’s recycling stream.  

Wednesdays from 12:00pm-1:30pm on Zoom

April 24th – Glass & Metal

May 8th - Contamination and hard to manage material

(batteries, gas cylinders, plastic film etc.)

May 22nd - Organics

Free to members, $30 per session for non-members

Registration

Funding Resources

New P2 Grant Opportunities, Apply by May 17, 2024 

EPA has announced two Notices of Funding Opportunities for $24 million in P2 grants to support states, U.S. territories and Tribes in providing technical assistance to businesses to develop and adopt P2 practices.

• $14 million P2 grant opportunity: Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this opportunity has no matching requirement and will be fully funded at the time grants are awarded. The maximum amount of each grant is $350,000.

View opportunity: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/353024

• $9.94 million P2 grant opportunity: Funded through the traditional P2 grants program, this opportunity includes a cost share/match requirement of fifty percent and funding is over a two-year cycle. Individual grant awards up to $700,000 for the two-year funding period.

View opportunity: https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/353022

EPA Environmental and Climate Justice

Community Change Grants Program 

EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights is awarding approximately $2 billion in Community Change Grants to fund community-driven projects that address climate challenges and reduce pollution while strengthening communities through thoughtful implementation. Funds for this grant program were made available by the Inflation Reduction Act. Eligible entities include partnerships between two

community-based organizations (CBOs) or a partnership between a CBO and a local

government, Federally-Recognized Tribe, or institute of higher education.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. 

Objectives of the grant program are:  

1. Provide resources for community-driven projects to address environmental and climate challenges in communities facing disproportionate and adverse health, pollution, and environmental impacts, and suffering from generations of disinvestment. 

2. Invest in strong cross-sectoral collaborations with partners who bring a robust commitment to working with and for communities with environmental and climate justice concerns. 

3. Unlock access to additional and more significant resources to advance environmental and climate justice goals from across the federal government and other sources. 

4. Empower communities and strengthen their capacity to drive meaningful positive change on the ground for years to come. 

5. Strengthen community participation in government decision-making processes that impact them. 

Application Deadline: November 21, 2024 

Initial Award Selections: March 2024 

Read full Notice of Funding Opportunity. 

View Frequently Asked Questions about the Community Change Grants program. 

Reports, Surveys & Other Resources

CT DEEP's

2022 Disposal & Diversion report

Connecticut Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling Data

The 2022 Solid Waste Disposal & Diversion Report is intended to quantify the management of solid waste materials generated within the state of Connecticut during the 2022 calendar year. The report provides insight into current waste management practices, analyzes trends, and measures progress towards statutory waste reduction targets. This report provides statewide aggregates based primarily on data submitted by permitted solid waste facilities and transfer stations within the state and supplemented by municipal reporting.  

Missed the 2024 CT Compost Conference?

Some of the sessions were recorded:

Morning Keynote: Linda Norris-Waldt

School Composting: Challenges and Opportunities

Compost Teas & Extracts

CT Lunchtime Keynote: Dr. Sally Brown

Advanced Composting for Transfer Stations, Schools & Institutions

Lessons Learned from Assessing On-Farm Composting Operations in CT

Powerpoints CT Compost Alliance's website, here: https://www.ctcompostalliance.org/conference-presentations

Did you miss a webinar from NERC? 

Check out the recording of these recent webinars:

• NERC/NEWMOA Anaerobic Digestion Facilities: Operators' Perspectives on Siting and More (March 27th, 2024)
• PSI/ NERC Tackling Tire Waste: EPR Solutions and Success Stories (March 20, 2024)
• NERC/NEWMOA Siting Consideration's for Anaerobic Digestion (March 13, 2024)
• NERC/NEWMOA Anaerobic Digestion and Other Solutions for Wasted Food (February 28, 2024)
• Material Reuse Forum 5: Reuse in Climate Action Plans (January 9, 2024)
• Residential Food Waste Regulatory Strategies (October 4, 2023)
• Material Reuse Forum 4 - Creating Policies That Support Reuse (September 20, 2023)
• Properly Managing E-Cigarettes & Vaping Waste Streams (April 27, 2023)

View webinar recordings and presentations:

https://nerc.org/conferences-and-workshops/webinars

Recycled Paper Capacity Increases In North America 2017 – 2024

March 2024

The Northeast Recycling Council's (NERC) has published the final update to its Recycled Paper Capacity Increases in North America report. This update reflects continuing progress to use more recycled paper in North America. Twenty-three of the 25 projects in the report are now completed. One will open this spring and another in 2026. This update includes projects at 25 mills, of which 23 have been completed. The 23 completed projects include five new mills. When NERC first published this list in November 2018, it included new capacity at 17 mills, of which three projects were completed. The list of additional recycled paper capacity includes new paper mills, expansion of existing capacity at packaging mills, and conversions of printed paper machines at existing mills to produce packaging paper (e.g. from newsprint to packaging). The list also includes several mills that are producing recycled fiber pulp for export and one mill designed to use food contaminated paper from commercial sources. 

Press Release: https://nerc.org/news-and-updates/press-releases/nerc-releases-final-update-on-increased-capacity-to-use-recycled-paper

Report: https://nerc.org/documents/Recycled%20Paper%20Capacity%20Increases%20in%20North%20America%202017%202024.pdf

Sizable Increase Seen in Commodity Values for Q4 2023

March 2024



NERC’s MRF Values Survey Report for the period October - December 2023 showed a significant rise in the average commodity price for Q4. The average value of all commodities increased by 36% with residuals and 32% without from Q3 to Q4 2023.

Data from RecyclingMarkets.net shows increased prices for both Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) and Residential Mixed Paper (RMP). Both commodities steadily rose in price throughout 2023. In the fourth quarter, OCC went up in value by $20 per ton while RMP increased by $15 per ton (RecyclingMarkets.net). Those two paper grades supply slightly over 60 percent of the recyclables processed at the MRFs. This data indicates that those prices have lifted a MRF ton's value.

More of press release here: https://nerc.org/news-and-updates/press-releases/

Big Progress in Reducing Retail Food Waste:

A Special Report from the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment

April 2024

A new study from the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment shows that grocery retailers made the most significant progress ever reported in the United States on reducing food waste in the retail sector. The analysis shows that over the four-year period from 2019 to 2022 (the latest year for which data is available), grocery retailers decreased the number of tons of unsold food in their regional operations by 25%—nearly 190,000 tons of food valued at $311 million—which represents a decrease in the amount of food at risk of going to waste. Most unsold food typically ends up going to waste destinations like landfill, where it decomposes and generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Yet in addition to the decrease in the amount of unsold food, the study also identified positive trends for where that unsold food ended up, including a 20% increase in the rate of unsold food being donated and a 28% increase in the rate of unsold food getting composted. Significantly, the analysis found that the four-year decline in unsold food led to an estimated 30% decrease in the total carbon footprint of unsold food in the region—the equivalent to taking nearly 270,000 passenger vehicles off the road annually.

Press Release: https://pacificcoastcollaborative.org/25337-2/

View report: https://pacificcoastcollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PCFWC-Big-Progress-in-Reducing-Retail-Food-Waste-Report-Final.pdf

Composting State of Practice: Results From a National Operations Survey

EREF, in partnership with the U.S. Composting Council, initiated a study to evaluate the state of practice of composting in the U.S. Key elements of the effort are to determine accessibility to commercial composting, quantify the number of composting facilities, aggregate the economic data and better understand various attributes of composting operations (e.g. technologies used, tonnage processed, etc.). Overall, the results of this study provide a snapshot into current composting facility operations. As the industry continues to grow and shift due to changing regulations and policies, regular collection of information is needed to provide long-term perspectives on the compost industry.

Download: https://erefdn.org/product/composting_state_of_practice/

Missed the last Newsletter or recent Webinar?

Check out the

Archived Municipal Recycling Coordinator E-News and Webinars

on the CT DEEP webpage.

 Upcoming Events: 

APRIL 2024

April 22, 2024 - 2:00pm - From Bud to Blend: Compost Opportunities in Cannabis Cultivation webinar. More information here. Hosted by U.S. Composting Council. Free USCC members/$25 non-members.

April 24, 2024 - 11:00am - Earth Day Lunch: Planet vs. Plastics presentation. Waveny House, New Canaan, CT. More information here. Hosted by the New Canaan Health Department.

April 24, 2024 - 7:00pm - Food Waste Solutions presentation. Miller Memorial Library, Hamden, CT. More information here. Hosted by the Hamden Earth Day Committee.

April 26, 2024 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Waste or Resource? A Walking tour of the Future of Food 'Waste'. Tour will begin at the Hamden Transfer & Recycling Station, 231 Wintergreen Ave., New Haven, CT. More information here. Hosted by the Hamden Earth Day Committee, Southern CT State University, Common Ground High School and Haven's Harvest.

April 30, 2024 - 6:00pm - What's IN, What's OUT recycling workshop. Oxford Public Library, Oxford, CT. More information here. Hosted by the Oxford Public Library.

April 30, 2024 - 7:00pm - Food Waste Solutions presentation. Marlborough Elementary School, Marlborough, CT. More information here. Hosted by the Marlborough Planning Commission.

April 30 - May 1, 2024 - NERC Spring Conference, King of Prussia, PA. More information here.

MAY 2024

May 15, 2024 - 7:00pm - Food Waste Solutions presentation. St. Peter's Episcopalian Church, Cheshire, CT. More information here. Hosted by St. Peter's Eco-Justice Council.

May 23, 2024 - 11:00am-12:00pm - CRC "No Frills" Tour: EcoWorks, Inc., North Haven, CT. More information here. Hosted by CT Recyclers Coalition.

JUNE 2024

June 3 & 4, 2024 - Next Level Recycling NRRA conference & Expo, Concord, New Hampshire. More information here.

June 11–13, 2024 - 2024 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit. Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland. More information here.

June 25, 2024 - 9:30am - 11:30am - CT Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) meeting. DEEP Headquarters, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT More information/agenda. Hosted by CT DEEP. Hybrid.

SAVE THE DATE

November 13-15, 2024 - Resource Recycling Conference. Louisville, Kentucky. More information here.