A new composting facility will be built on the site of the city鈥檚 decommissioned trash incinerator. Five years ago, Connecticut was sending around 17% percent of its trash out of state. That number has since more than doubled to 40%, according to New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
鈥淢ost of the trash here goes to Bridgeport and is burned,鈥� Elicker said, gesturing to the trash behind him at the New Haven Transfer Station. 鈥淎nd that is clearly not the best solution for compostable materials that could be used for much better purposes.鈥�
More food reaches landfills than any other material in household trash, according to the EPA. It makes up about 24% of municipal solid waste. New Haven already has a few big-belly composting bins around the city, which Elicker said have collected 2.5 tons of compostable material.