Connecticut towns weigh options for managing solid waste

Towns in northwest Connecticut are seeking a public solution to manage municipal solid waste as municipal contracts with the state for refuse hauling could expire as early as mid-2025, the Lakeville Journal reports.

The Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG), a coalition of 21 town governments in the region, has been weighing options for several years, including the creation of a regional waste authority to manage operations from a central hub. Under this proposal, the council would hire a company to run the transfer station.

To achieve this, the NHCOG submitted an offer to purchase the existing Torrington Transfer Station, which has been operating since 1988, from the Connecticut agency Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority Dissolution Authority (MIRA-DA), for use as the central hub. The council hopes that securing the Torrington Transfer Station would offer a solution for at least a couple of years as the region fulfills its contract with MIRA-DA.

Of the 21 towns that make up NHCOG, 11 maintain a contract with MIRA-DA, according to the Journal. The remainder of the towns have hired private haulers, such as USA Waste and Recycling.

NHCOG had been operating under the understanding that it had until June 30, 2027, to secure new contracts. However, the council recently learned that the Department of Administrative Services, the successor agency to MIRA-DA, is not required to honor existing town contracts. The actual contractual expiration date is unclear, according to the story.

The Torrington facility processes 25,000 tons per year of waste, recyclables and bulky items, and has a capacity to expand that to 60,000 tons. The 4.7-acre Torrington Transfer Station is operated by a third-party contractor, Enviro Express Inc., Bridgeport, Connecticut.

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The transfer station has an unused rail spur that could be used for waste hauling, according to the report. The projected total cost of operation of the Torrington Transfer Station is $4.7 million for 2026, according to the dissolution authority.

“It is in the public interest to try to keep some public option for our trash disposal in the Northwest Hills, especially for small towns that generally do not have a lot of staff,” says Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway.

Falls Village First Selectman David Barger says transitioning the Torrington Transfer Station to the towns of Northwest Hills would be in keeping with Connecticut Gov. Lamont’s plan to regionalize services across the state.

Meanwhile, Goshen First Selectman Todd Carusillo expressed concern over the potential for one company to come in and create a monopoly by buying all the transfer stations in the region. “This would result in the towns losing control over solid waste tip fees,” Carusillo says, explaining that the towns have been working on transitioning the transfer station for the last few months.  

Winchester, Connecticut, is one of the NHCOG towns that opted to sign with a private hauler rather than wait for a public solution.

“While we’re making progress in developing regional waste solutions, we must ensure that any long-term arrangement is both financially sustainable and operationally efficient,” says Paul Harrington, Winchester town manager. “Waste collection is an essential weekly service that must continue uninterrupted, but it needs to be delivered in the most cost-effective manner possible, especially given the constraints of municipal budgets.”