About a year and a half ago, our first selectman, Carl Fortuna, Jr., formed a waste and recycling task force to address the increasing costs of Old Saybrook’s waste disposal and recycling program.

Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA), the quasi-public agency that runs the regional trash-to-energy plant in Hartford and receives Old Saybrook’s waste, has set June 30, 2022 as a target date to stop burning garbage and truck the waste instead to out-of-state landfills. As a result, costs to Old Saybrook and other member municipalities are expected to dramatically rise.

Since the time our Waste and Recycling Task Force was created, they and the first selectman have worked hard to identify best practices, share information with like municipal work groups, and solicit ideas for innovative waste management solutions.

One such solution is Old Saybrook’s Food Scrap Recycling Program and according to Jim Therrien, our Old Saybrook Transfer Station operator, a good percentage (i.e., 30 percent) of the trash brought to our Transfer Station is organic waste that could be recycled to save the town money in hauling fees and help the environment—a true win/win.

As a reminder, items that are appropriate for the food scraps program include fruit, vegetables, dairy, coffee grinds, bread, bones, pasta, egg shells, grains, chips and snacks, nuts and seeds, leftover spoiled food, expired food, and cut flowers. Simply accumulate the food scraps in a container at home and drop-off to the designated bin at our Old Saybrook Transfer Station.

Thanks go to our first selectman and our Waste and Recycling Task Force for working together to increase public awareness and encourage environmentally sustainable choices!

Madeleine (Madge) Fish

Old Saybrook