Greenwich鈥檚 municipal food scrap recycling program has surpassed a significant milestone with over a half million pounds of organic materials collected. This voluntary, drop-off program diverts household food waste from the trash and converts it to nutrient-rich compost, rather than incinerating the organic material as trash, a polluting and costly process.
A collaboration between Greenwich Dept of Public Works, Waste Free Greenwich and Greenwich Green & Clean, the initiative was conceived by a group of community volunteers, who were inspired to address the state鈥檚 growing waste crisis and combat the negative public health, environmental and budgetary impacts of the current waste management system. Initial funding was raised through a Sustainable CT Community Match challenge, with the support of generous residents.
First Selectman Fred Camillo, an early proponent of the program, recognizes the success of this public-private partnership. 鈥淩eaching the milestone of over 500,000 pounds of food scrap recycled in the past four years is something we are all very proud of here in our town,鈥� Camillo said in a release. 鈥淥ur community has come a long way, and with the strong efforts and leadership of our volunteers in Waste Free Greenwich, the Greenwich Sustainability Committee, GRAB and Greenwich Green & Clean, we will continue toward our goal to reduce waste and make Greenwich the greenest town in Connecticut.鈥�