Connecticut’s waste management crisis is already a top-ticket item for lawmakers. Before the latest legislative session began, newly-appointed Environmental Committee Chair State Sen. Rick Lopes told the CT Examiner he was focused on finding solutions.

The State Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has been sounding the alarm since 2020, when Commissioner Katie Dykes said the dwindling options for waste disposal posed a “silent crisis.”

In July of last year, one of five of the state’s waste-to-energy plants ground to a halt, offloading up to one-third of Connecticut's waste out-of-state.

In recent years, DEEP has offered grants to support pay-as-you-throw programs and food collection services, hoping to help towns and cities stem the tide of trash. Food scrap collection is already bring offered in Middletown, Meriden and West Haven.

This hour, we hear from Waste Dive editor Cole Rosengren, as well as the recycling director for the nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts, where citywide food waste collection is now a mainstay. Plus, Alaina Wood is a climate communicator who goes by The Garbage Queen. She takes your questions.

GUESTS:

• Cole Rosengren: Lead Editor, Waste Dive
• Mike Orr: Recycling Director, Dept. of Public Works for Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Alaina Wood: Climate Communicator AKA The Garbage Queen

Cat Pastor contributed to this episode which originally aired January 20, 2023.

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