West Hartford, Connecticut, exploring ‘pay as you throw’ system

West Hartford, Connecticut, leaders are exploring potential changes to the way residents dispose of trash in light of what town leaders are calling a “waste crisis in Connecticut,” according to CT Insider.

Town Council is weighing the decision of whether to keep the status quo or to adopt a new waste disposal system, such as unit-based pricing, in an effort to reduce the total tonnage of trash in the town’s waste system.

Leaders have been exploring potential changes following the closure of a Hartford trash incinerator and as increasing amounts of waste is being shipped out of state to be put in landfills. Ahead of a vote, West Hartford’s public works department will examine the logistics of implementing a unit-based pricing system. Unit-based pricing was first proposed in West Hartford in 2016, according to We-Ha.com, but subsequently dropped due to significant resistance from the community. 

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“We want to continue our due diligence in exploring the options and have a better understanding of what a unit-based pricing program means for the town of West Hartford,” says John Phillips, director of West Hartford’s public works department.

The public works department is also asking the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) for a grant to extend the town’s current pilot program testing a food scrap separation and unit-based pricing system in one neighborhood as well as expand the program to the remainder of the town.

“From the perspective of our staff, it is our belief that unit-based pricing, or 'pay-as-you-throw,' coupled with food scrap diversion holds the potential to be the most promising avenue for achieving waste management objectives,” Town Manager Rick Ledwith writes in a letter to DEEP.

West Hartford was one of 15 municipalities and three regional groups in Connecticut to receive funding for the pilot, announced in 2022. Currently, the optional pilot program has a 46 percent participation rate, but accounts for 1.35 tons of food scraps diverted from the waste system each week, coming out to about 71 tons a year, according to the report.

If the pilot program is expanded town-wide, participation would become mandatory, food scrap collection would be expanded to all homes and the town would provide residents with unit-based pricing "starter bags."

The town’s current contract for waste management expires at the end of the current fiscal year and is out to bid now, and Phillips tells We-Ha.com West Hartford could be facing an increase of 15 to 20 percent in tip fees. 

“We feel that allowing residents to take personal responsibility for trash as a utility, just like water or electricity, is a critical shift for our town to make, and we’re excited to support our Public Works Department in that effort,” Sustainable West Hartford Commission member Rachael Virgin tells We-Ha.com.