Frequently Asked Questions

 In November 2023, the City of Middletown reduced the sanitation fees for property owners in the Sanitation District and shifted to a two-tiered billing system where the disposal cost of trash is included in the cost of required program bags. Customers must use the specified orange bags for trash. The City also added a curbside collection of food scraps. Food scraps can be put in a specified green bag and placed in the regular trash cart. Both the orange bags and the green bags are taken to a transfer station where they are sorted and the food waste is taken to an anaerobic digester where it is turned into clean energy and compost. The actual trash disposed of is reduced. 

• With the previous system, everyone paid a flat fee no matter how much trash they disposed of.  

• Now customers must use the required orange bags, which include the cost of disposal in the cost of the bag.  This way, customers pay for what they actually dispose of. Those who generate more waste pay more than those who generate less waste.    

• The orange bag is the receipt for the payment of the disposal cost.  

• The green bag can be used for food scraps and be placed in the same trash container as the orange bag.  This allows residents to separate out food scraps and save money by not putting food waste into the more expensive orange bag.   

• This type of food scrap diversion program is called “co-collection”. It is new to Connecticut, and is used in hundreds of communities to manage food scraps as a resource, not a waste.   

• Through this program, the City is expecting to reduce waste by at least 40% and control future costs as trash disposal expenses continue to escalate.  

• Requiring customers to use certain bags and putting the disposal cost into the cost of the bag, is called “unit-based pricing”.  

• Having two different colored bags with two different waste streams in the same cart adds convenience and reduces costs for collecting two different types of materials. 

This program will help reduce waste, increase recycling and control future cost increases.  The City is working in partnership with the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and has received grant funding for this specific project. Information on the program can be found at: https://www.middletownct.gov/201/Sanitation-Division and https://reducethetrashct.com/middletown/.

The City is working to achieve statewide waste reduction and diversion goals established in Public Act 14-94 and manage increasing trash disposal costs. According to DEEP, this strategy is the best way to achieve reduction and diversion goals and control costs.   Thousands of communities use unit based pricing for trash. Adding the co-collection of food scraps, offers a new, convenient service to customers. The State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has encouraged communities to pilot this type of program through its Sustainable Materials Management Grant program. The City was a recipient of one of these awards.  

Trash disposal costs are increasing. Connecticut, and all of the Northeast, is experiencing a capacity shortage for trash.  This program is designed to control these costs by reducing waste and managing the waste more sustainably.  Some current challenges facing CT’s waste system include:

• The Hartford MIRA facility, one of the largest trash incinerators in Connecticut, shut down in 2022. The four remaining incinerators in Connecticut are all past their life spans and are likely to shut down in the next decade.  The loss of existing capacity and the inability to create new capacity are driving significant increases in trash disposal fees.  

• The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection estimates more than 800,000 tons of waste are being shipped to out-of-state landfills due to capacity issues. This is very expensive and not sustainable.  

• Landfill capacity in New England is expected to drop to zero by as early as 2041.  No new incinerator facilities are opening because of public opposition.  It is extremely difficult to add meaningful waste disposal capacity in the region.  Only one new incinerator has been built in the US in the past 32 years (Florida in 2015). 

• When food scraps decompose in a landfill, they emit methane gas, which warms the atmosphere at a rate 30 times more than carbon dioxide.  58% of methane emissions released to the atmosphere from municipal solid waste landfills are from food waste.  Turning food scraps into clean energy and compost is cheaper and better for everyone.  

• The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments designed a story map explaining more about the crisis. It focuses on their area, but the problems are the same across the state.  View it here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/be24e917780f42909ddb3248384a2b90

Expected benefits of Save As You Throw:

• The Sanitation District is expected to reduce waste by at least 40%.

• The addition of co-collection, where food scraps go in a different (green) bag and are placed in the trash cart, will increase the amount we can reduce. 

• Within the first month of Middletown’s Save As You Throw program, we collected almost 8,000 lbs of food scraps.  For comparison, we collect about 3,000 lbs per month at our food scrap drop-offs.  The drop-offs were a great first option for food waste diversion, but only the most committed use them. 

• Those who try to reduce waste, recycle more and separate food scraps will pay less than those who don’t.   

• This program will protect customers of the District as prices increase and disposal capacity dwindles.  Less waste will be less costly and more manageable. 

• With less trash, the District can consider other creative programs; once a week recycling collection, separate bag collection of small yard debris, what else? Tell us what you want! 

Experience shows we cannot continue doing the same thing and expect different results.  Just as other systems change, it is time to change the way we manage waste.  Thirty years ago, waste disposal changed with the implementation of curbside recycling. Now we know just recycling is not enough. Recycling has been stagnant for decades. We have to make greater and more varied efforts to reduce the amount of waste we generate.  The EPA and DEEP solid waste hierarchy prioritizes waste reduction and reuse first, before recycling and disposal. We should be reducing and reusing more than recycling and disposing.  This system prioritizes waste reduction.  More information on this is here: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP-CCSMM. 

Residents and businesses that use a cart for trash must use the official orange and green bags for trash and food scraps.    

• Trash must go in the orange bag.   
• Food scraps go in the green bag. By using the green bags, customers can save money and help the environment.  
• Customers put both bags in the regular trash cart.  Please note, that green bags should not be put in the orange bags.  They each stay separate, but both go in the trash cart.  
• After the carts are emptied by the trash truck, the material gets taken to a sorting facility, where the green bags get separated and taken to Quantum Biopower where the food gets turned into clean energy.   
• Recycling stays the same.  Recycling DOES NOT go in any bag.  Acceptable recyclables get placed loose in the blue recycling cart. 
• Renters should check with their landlords.  Every rental agreement can be different. We are currently reaching out to property owners to encourage them, if appropriate, to pass on the savings to their renters either through a rent reduction or a certain amount of free bags.  

With the closing of the Hartford incineration facility, there is even less in-state capacity for trash and more waste is going out of state, increasing disposal costs. Towns currently going out for pricing are receiving rates of $120-$130/ton.  Until now, costs were under $100/ton for most communities in CT. It is expected that costs will continue to rise as capacity dwindles.

The Eastern CT Resource Recovery Authority (ECRRA) owns the Lisbon Trash to Energy facility.  The City of  Middletown is the only member of ECRRA.  Even though Middletown is the only member, ECRRA is a different and separate entity. It must adhere to certain laws and regulations as a waste authority.  Through the contract with ECRRA, the Sanitation District has the option of sending its trash to the Lisbon incinerator facility for a reasonable rate.  However, the transportation cost to deliver the waste to the facility almost doubles the cost. Competitive pricing was solicited in the fall 2023. The City reviews this option annually. More information on ECRRA is available on the City website.

The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) formed the CT Coalition of Sustainable Materials Management (CCSMM) in January 2020. Middletown’s Mayor and staff were active participants in this Coalition.  The CCSMM conducted a separate working groups on several topics, including one on unit based pricing.  Information on this working group can be found here.  

• The CCSMM issued a Menu of Options to assist municipalities in dealing with the lack of capacity and increasing costs. Many of these options Middletown was already doing.

• The most impactful strategies outlined by this Coalition are: 

  • Diverting organics from the waste stream

  • Implementing unit-based pricing (a system of charging for trash disposal based on the amount disposed)

  • Passing extended producer responsibility policies.

An outcome from the work of the CCSMM was the release of the DEEP Sustainable Materials Management Grant program to help communities implement waste reduction programs that include food scrap collection and unit-based pricing.

Yes! There are over 30 towns in CT that have some type of unit-based pricing trash program. More recently, fifteen communities in CT received funding through the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Sustainable Materials Management Grant (SMM) to implement unit based pricing and co-collection pilot programs. These communities include: Ansonia, Bethel, Guilford, Madison,Meriden, Middlebury, Newtown, Seymour, Stonington, West Hartford, and Woodbury. 

Check out www.reducethetrashct.com for a complete listing. 

While Middletown is the first pilot town in CT to make its program mandatory, it is far from the first community in the region to have a mandatory unit-based pricing program. There are over 7,000 communities across the US from small townships to cities with similar trash programs.  

More information on communities using unit based pricing can be found here.  

Your trash costs are based on how much trash you generate. The less trash you produce, the less you pay for trash. For example, if you use one 15 gallon orange bag a week, you only pay $1/week. If a household uses more bags, they will pay for more bags.

You can save money by reducing, diverting and recycling.

• Consume less. 

• Know what gets recycled in your cart.  Check out the recyclect.com website and recycle all you can. 

• Use the green bags for food scraps.  The less you put in your orange bag, the less orange bags you need to purchase. 

• Donate textiles.  

• Use the recycling center and recycling nook at City Hall. 

Tips for bag usage: 

• Fill the bags and pack your trash in them.

• Use the largest bag for disposal.  It is the most economical. 

• Put smaller non-required bags in the larger orange bag.  That is okay! 

• Invite Public Works to conduct a waste audit on your trash to get other ideas on saving money. Earn a $20 gift card to Reboot Eco once the audit is complete. 

The flat sanitation fee pays for operation, management and administration in the District and is determined by the number and size of trash carts you have. Larger trash carts have higher sanitation fees than smaller trash carts. If you have a larger cart or more carts, you pay more. If you currently have a 96-gallon cart, you can change to a smaller 64-gallon cart and pay less on your sanitation bill.  To change your cart size or for more clarification, call 860-638-4850.

We hope so! CT DEEP estimates that a combination of co-collection and unit-based pricing is the most effective way to cut down on the amount of trash that we produce. We are confident that, given the chance, this new program will save money on waste disposal and help the environment in the long term.

With unit-based pricing, how much you pay depends on how much you throw away. The cost is based on units disposed rather than on a flat fee charged to everyone or a system paid for through property taxes. Alternatively called “volume-based,” “variable-rate,” or “pay-as-you-throw,” the system treats garbage like any other utility—you pay for units used. Units of garbage can be measured by the number of bags or cans used, by the size of the container used, or by weight. Weight is seldom used in curbside residential programs because scales cannot maintain their calibration on the trucks. Most residential systems utilize a bag or tag system. 

More information is available at the following websites:

• http://payasyouthrow.org/

• https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Waste-Management-and-Disposal/CCSMM/Unit-Based-Pricing

• https://archive.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/tools/payt/web/html/index.html

• https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Reduce-Reuse-Recycle/Payt/Save-Money-and-Reduce-Trash

• Waste 360 Unpacking Recycling with Charlotte - Pay As you Throw (video) 

The orange bags cost more because they include the cost of disposal in the bag. The bag is the payment receipt for the cost of disposal. If you don’t use the orange bag, you aren’t paying your bill.  This method is set up similarly to other utility bills like electricity, where you pay for what you use. The cost of the bags cannot be compared to the typical bags you purchase anywhere because these bags include disposal costs, not just the cost of the bag.

This system is similar to purchasing a USPS box to mail a package.  The cardboard box may not be that expensive, but the cost to mail the box is.  The box itself may cost $.50 but the cost of the box  with the postage may be $10 because it includes postage.  

There are different ways to bill for trash services. Because of shrinking trash disposal capacity and the escalating costs of trash, the City switched to a two-tiered system, where the flat rate was reduced, and customers pay for the disposal costs through the cost of bags. This way, each household pays for what they dispose of: families that generate less waste pay less and those that generate more waste pay more.  

More information on this system can be found here.  

A comparison of the old, flat fee system and the new system are below.   Please note that because of increasing disposal costs, rates will not remain stable with the fixed fee system.  With no significant waste reduction, rates will continue to go up with no indefinitely.  

Orange trash bags and green food scrap bags both go into your trash cart.  The bags are collected together and go to a sortation facility where they are separated.  

• Orange bags go to a landfill or waste incinerator.

• Green bags go to the Quantum Biopower anaerobic digester facility in Southington where food scraps are converted into renewable energy and compost–nutrients for the soil.  

• Food scraps should not be treated as waste like the rest of your trash because they are not waste– they are a valuable resource that should not rot in a landfill or burn in an incinerator.  

• The green bags are priced at a fraction of the cost of the orange bags. The more food you divert, the more you can fit in your orange bag, and the more money you save. 

• Using green bags to divert your food scraps from ending up in a landfill is good for the planet and your wallet.  

As of January 2024, bags can be bought at the following locations: 

• Price Chopper, Guest Services Desk, 855 Washington St 

• Stop and Shop, 416 E. Main Street 

• Corner Stop, 221 Newfield St 

• Smith & Bishel, 155 Main St

• Walgreens, 633 Washington St

• City Hall, Public Works, 245 Dekoven Drive, Room 210

• Bags can also be purchased online here.

For a full list of stores, to purchase online, or find out how to buy in bulk, visit middletownct.gov/201/Sanitation-Division. Delivery options are available as well. 

Orange trash bags are sold in rolls of five and food scrap bags are sold in rolls of 10. There is no limit to the number of rolls that may be purchased.  

The City offers an assistance program for many different types of hardships. An assistance form can be filled out on line here or call 860-638-4858.  We can help.

Just as it is not fair if some customers are paying their bill and others are not; it is not fair if some are using the orange bags and others are not.  

Starting in January 2024, the City will do spot checks and not empty carts that are not using the designated bags. If they are not using the designated bags, they are not paying their bill. 

If your cart is not emptied and you are not using the orange bags, call the office at 860-638-4858.  When the trash is in orange bags, crews will come back to pick it up.   

No. The City does not generate profits from trash, recycling, or food waste collection.  The bags are purchased with pricing from a state contract.  The disposal pricing, included in the price customers pay for the bag, was determined through a Request for Quotation process authorized by the City Purchasing Office. Both went through an authorized competitive pricing process. 

The money from the bags pays for the purchase of the bag and the cost of disposing of the trash at the trash facility.  Because the City reduced Sanitation bills, if customers do not use the orange bags, there will not be enough funding to pay for the disposal of the trash. 

If the bags bring in too much revenue, that money stays in the Sanitation budget.

The Sanitation District is a government entity and does not make a profit.  It is also an enterprise fund, so all its revenue comes from customer fees.  It does not receive revenue from the general fund, nor does it give revenue to the general fund.

Yes. Sanitation District customers who use cart service are required to use the City's official orange trash bags. The green food scrap bags are optional but using them will save you money and help the environment.

With Save As You Throw, the City has switched to a two-tiered sanitation billing system: 

• A typical cart Sanitation bill was reduced by $59 this past November and will be reduced by another $59 in April (for a total reduction of $118 a year).  This shifts the cost of trash disposal from fees to the bags.

• The price of the bags includes the cost of disposal of the trash that is inside them.  If you do not use the orange bags, you are not paying the disposal cost of your sanitation bill.

If you generate an average amount of waste (2 orange kitchen-sized trash bags and 1 green food scraps bag per week is average for a family of four), you will not pay more for your trash disposal, as the cost of purchasing the bags will be equal to the reduction in your sanitation fee. 

Everyone has to bag their trash. The overwhelming majority of people use some sort of plastic bag.  This program is projected to reduce trash by an estimated 45%-70%.  Less trash means less bag usage. Also, because customers have to pay for each bag of trash they produce, they use their plastic bags much more efficiently and overall, use fewer bags.  In communities that have these programs, residents use, on average, one and a half trash bags a week.  By reducing trash, we reduce the use of plastic bags.  

Yes.  The official orange and green bags are purchased through a competitive pricing process approved by the City’s Purchasing office. The City piggybacked off pricing from a State contract.  This vendor provided the best pricing for the bags.  

The bags cost more because the cost of disposal is included in the bag. It is the trash disposal that is expensive, not the bags. The cost of trash disposal was solicited through competitive pricing. The cost of the bags cannot be compared to the typical bags you purchase anywhere because these bags include disposal costs, not just the cost of the bag.  

 In the future, the City can change vendors if they find one with better pricing.  

Place food scraps in your green bag, tie it up, and place the green bag in your trash cart.  Each household will have to design a separate system that works for them, just like we all did for recycling.  Check out the tips available at https://reducethetrashct.com/middletown/. 

Food scrap buckets and countertop collection containers are available at no charge at City Hall in the Public Works Department located on the 2nd Floor, Room 210.  The green 4-gallon bag fits in the countert op container, and the green 8-gallon bag fits in the 5-gallon bucket. For more information, please contact the public works office at 860-638-4858.

 Kitchen Counter Food Scrap Container   Five Gallon Bucket for the 8 gallon food scrap bag 

Food scrap buckets and countertop collection containers are available at no charge at City Hall in the Public Works Department located on the 2nd Floor, Room 210.  The green 4-gallon bag fits in the countertop container, and the green 8-gallon bag fits in the 5-gallon bucket. For more information, please contact the public works office at 860-638-4858.

If you have a backyard composter, keep using it! It makes more sense financially and environmentally to use that rather than the green bags. However, the green bags can be used for meat, bones, dairy products, and  other types of food waste that you may not want to put in your backyard compost.

Yard waste can be disposed of at the Recycling Center or in your backyard.  Brush and grass clippings are not allowed in your trash cart.  Grass clippings can be left on the lawn or brought to the Recycling Center and mixed with the leaves.  Branches under 6" in diameter can be brought to the Recycling Center or cut to four-foot lengths, bundled, and placed at the curb for collection. Brush collection is offered to Sanitation District customers year-round.  Call 860-638-4850 to add your address to the list for pickup. Smaller yard debris such as prunings or twigs can be brought to the Recycling Center and added to the leaves, composted in  your backyard, or placed in an orange bag and disposed of as trash. 

Put cat litter and dog pet waste bags in your orange trash bags.  You may want to collect cat litter in a different bag during the week and then put it in your orange bag when the bag is almost full.  The weight of litter will compact the trash under it and give you more space. 

For dog or other pet waste, collect pet waste bags during the week in an outside container and then deposit them in your orange bag just before trash day.  This will give you more room and make sure you use the orange bags as efficiently as possible.  

 All Sanitation District customers received a reduction in their bills when this program started in November 2023.  The reduction may vary, depending on the service you use.  If you feel you are using too many bags and it is too expensive, we can help. Customers may email recycling@middletownct.gov to schedule a waste audit where we can offer suggestions on how to reduce their waste. Residents that do a waste audit will receive a free $20 gift card to Reboot Eco. 

Items that are too large to fit into a 15 or 33-gallon size orange bag will need to be disposed of as bulky waste either at the Recycling Center or curbside, see details here: https://middletownct.gov/191/Bulk-Waste-Collection .  Please note for Sanitation District customers, brooms, mops and shovels can be bundled and left next to the trash cart.  Customers must call 860-638-4858 to notify the office so a special pick up, at no additional cost, can be made.   

• The Sanitation District also collects bulky waste and oversized trash curbside on a Wednesday and/or Thursday for $75 per pick up. This collection does not occur on holiday weeks and is suspended from mid October - March. 

• Bulky waste and oversized trash such as demolition and construction debris, wood, metal, appliances, furniture, and carpet can be brought to the Recycling Center for disposal.  There is a minimum charge of $10 which covers up to 150 lbs of material.  The following materials must be brought to the Recycling Center (these will not be picked up curbside):

  • Carpet (charged)

  • Computers (free)

  • Televisions (free)

  • Electronics (free)

• Mattresses and box springs are an additional $36 each for curbside pick up and must be in a plastic bag.  Mattress bags are available at Public Works in City Hall.  There is NO charge to take mattresses and box springs to the Recycling Center. 

• If you have items that are still in usable condition, they may be donated to a charity, such as Habitat for Humanity's Restore, Savers, Goodwill, or the Salvation Army, or placed on one of the websites or Facebook pages, such as the Buy Nothing Group or Freecycle, that offer items for free. 

NO! Be sure you are NOT including recyclables in your orange bags. Be sure you are NOT putting orange bags in your recycling carts. Recycling should still be placed loose in the blue recycling cart.  Recycling effectively will further reduce your waste, and reduce your costs.  Learn what may be recycled curbside here: https://www.recyclect.com/ and what can be recycled in Middletown here: https://www.middletownct.gov/190/Recycling.

Customers can request an additional recycling cart at no extra charge by calling the public works office at 860-638-4855.

NO! There is no bag for recycling. Recycling is still the same as it was prior to Save As You Throw. Never put recyclables in plastic bags, just put recyclable items directly into your blue recycling cart. The City’s curbside recycling service comes free along with your trash cart, so take full advantage of it!  

Additional carts are available at no charge. Call 860-638-4855 or email the Recycling Office at recycling@middletownct.gov  to request one.  For information on what is acceptable with curbside recycling visit www.recyclect.com. 

Garbage disposals can cause sewer backups and put more strain on the City’s wastewater system. 

• When food scraps are sent down the drain, they combine with other wastes in the sewer system and end up at the wastewater treatment plant. 

• Sending food scraps down the drain is one of the least preferred ways to manage food waste because the food decays rapidly in the sewer system and generates methane gas. Methane emissions from sewers are released directly into the atmosphere, contributing to the climate crisis. 

• When you put food down the drain, even with a garbage disposal, items such as bread, oatmeal, pasta, and rice can expand when wet and form a gelatinous paste that blocks up your drain.  

• The use of a garbage disposal can put an increased strain on existing sewer pipes and infrastructure due to oil and food waste clogs. This can result in expensive plumbing bills, especially in older buildings. 

• According to the EPA , sink grinders are also significantly less environmentally friendly.  Food is a valuable resource and sending your food scraps to an anaerobic digester facility is a much better option than putting them in the garbage disposal.
  
  
  
  
  

The City is not enforcing food scrap separation.  It is your choice whether to separate food scraps into the green bags.  It does save money for both the City and the customer, if you separate your food scraps and it helps our environment.  The City is checking for the use of the orange bags.  That is required. 

Yes! The green bags are separated at the sorting facility and delivered to the Quantum Biopower.  The trash is disposed by the contracted facility at an incinerator or out of state landfill.  By separating out the food scraps, that material is handled in a more sustainable manner, and it costs less.  

The food scrap diversion will be a very small burden that is offset by long-term savings and positive environmental impact. We don’t have the luxury to take waste disposal for granted.

The City is at a crossroads of accepting consistent and infinite increases in costs or adopting a system that has proven to control costs by reducing waste. The City decided to be proactive and try to change the system to handle the future increases in costs and meet the state’s recycling and diversion goals. 

We understand it is not perfect and want our residents to help make improvements. This program is not intended to be onerous to residents; it is designed to offer a convenient way to divert food scraps, which make up more than 20% of the waste stream, and incentivize residents to reduce their waste and recycle more.  We specifically need input on the landlord/tenant dynamic, improving outreach and other issues to be determined by the informal waste reduction citizens advisory group.  

This group is meeting the second Monday of the month at 6pm.  Information on the meetings will be posted here. Contact recycling@middletownct.gov or 860-638-4858 if you want to join.  If you don’t want to be part of a group but have comments, call or email us. We greatly appreciate the public’s input.

The Sanitation District was formed by Special Act No. 466, Section of the legislature and Chapter VII § 1 of the City Charter.  The purpose of the Act was to form a special taxing district to collect waste in one congregated area. This would allow a pooling of resources and keep costs low for customers.  The District includes all property owners, residential and commercial.  Costs have always been different for customers, depending on what type of service they use, but there is a base fee all property owners must pay. 

The costs of the District have been one of the lowest in the State and have kept pricing down throughout Middletown. The District has never charged additional fees such as extra fuel charges or COVID charges and it offers special services such as curbside bulky waste collection and free curbside brush collection all year long, and now, curbside collection of food scraps.  The Sanitation District does not make a profit and offers transparency and accountability, unlike private haulers.  

Customers have to pay according to the service they use. A typical family, using one trash cart picked up once a week, used to pay $199 every billing cycle.  This pricing was slightly lower for smaller carts, and higher for dumpsters. The price changes if you use more than one cart and if it is picked up multiple times a week.   

The Sanitation District is an enterprise fund, which means it’s funding is totally separate from the City’s general fund budget.  Its expenses are paid for entirely by the fees collected.  Generally, the budget is split into base costs (administrative & operational costs), collection costs (the cost of actually picking up at your property) and disposal costs. The disposal cost was removed from the fee bill and added into the bag cost.  The mandatory admin cost is the mandatory portion, per state law and city charter, for each property owner.

As a special taxing district, the Sanitation District must charge all property owners a fee, whether they use the service or not.  This service charge is necessary because it allows it to operate.  District customers have enjoyed a low sanitation rate for decades.  If someone chooses not to use the service, that is their choice, but they are diminishing the service for their neighbors.  The Sanitation District can keep prices stable because everyone is required to pay into it.  According to the Special Act of the Legislature and the City Charter, the fee is mandatory.

More information is available here.

Special Acts Available here: 

1951 SA 466 

1959 SA 397

1963 SA 346

The City of Middletown Charter, Chapter VII § 1 Sanitary Disposal District; Boundaries, also supports the City’s position that it is entitled to charge the maintenance and operation fee at issue.  It reads as follows:

Chapter VII: § 1 Sanitary Disposal District; Boundaries [Amended 11-4-2008]

The Sanitary Disposal District shall continue to be that portion of the City of Middletown as is constituted the Sanitary Disposal District on the effective date of this Charter, together with any other territory contiguous thereto which may hereafter be added in accordance with the provisions of this Charter. The expense for the maintenance and operation of said district shall be a service charge upon all property located within the district. The provisions of Special Act No. 466 (1951) of the Connecticut General Assembly not inconsistent with the provisions herein shall continue in effect.

This provision of the charter is available online at : http://ecode360.com/12335120#./12335120?&_suid=14006863172630953521803738973

All Sanitation District customers received a reduction in their bills when this program started in November 2023.  If you feel you are using too many bags and it is too expensive, we can help. Customers may email recycling@middletownct.gov to schedule a waste audit so we can offer suggestions on how to reduce their waste. Residents that do a waste audit will receive a free $20 gift card to Reboot Eco. 

Only property owners receive the sanitation billing, and thus receive the savings.  If trash disposal is included in the lease, the city is encouraging landlords to pass this savings onto their renters in the form of rent reductions or bags.  It is of great concern that many landlords have not done this. Renters are required to use the city bags.  To help alleviate this problem, the City is offering assistance to help renters, and any family dealing with hardship, to adjust.  Families experiencing hardship can apply for bag assistance here; https://www.middletownct.gov/FormCenter/Public-Works-7/Sanitation-District-Trash-Bag-Assistance-160.

Yes, as long as the hauler is registered with the City.  However, the customer must still pay the administrative fee, which for a typical one family home is $74.48 each billing cycle. The Sanitation District is a special taxing district, and the fee is mandated both by the City Charter and by a Special Act of the Connecticut legislature.  It is vital for keeping the sanitation funded.  As a non-profit municipal entity, the District offers the lowest waste disposal fees in the City.  

To figure out the cost of the orange bags we took the average weight for a full bag of that size and priced the bags at what it costs to dispose of that amount of trash. The green bags are offered at a lower cost to encourage food waste diversion.

A voluntary program won’t achieve the reduction in trash needed to save money. Most people won’t comply and costs will escalate with no end in sight.  Experience has demonstrated that there needs to be a financial incentive for people to reduce waste and recycle. 

The City started with the District because it has control of the fee bill there.  We have offset the fees for the trash disposal bags, the bags include the disposal cost,  by reducing the semi-annual fee; most households should see a reduction in their total bill (including the price of the bags).  We anticipate the reduction in fees to be offset by reduced disposal charges as the volume of waste goes down.  Also, the City is working with its own crews to monitor the success of the program. 

The City does hope to expand the program to other customers within the District, as well as residential customers outside the District, if the program reduces waste and results in a cost savings as anticipated.  The waste disposal challenge the City faces is a regional and national problem, and we are trying to address it now before the anticipated increase in disposal costs becomes reality.  The co-collection of food scraps is an additional service we are now able to provide;  it could reduce trash volumes by 20% or more.

No, all locations that use cart service within the sanitation district with curbside trash and recycling must participate in this program, including locations owned by larger institutions.   Any location in the District that uses a dumpster is currently not part of this program. 

The city is exploring offering these appliances for those that are interested.  However, they are expensive. They take up space in your kitchen.  Residents would have to pay in full or perhaps, pay a monthly charge for the appliance. There are no grants to give these away.  There is no evidence or experience demonstrating a large reduction in waste with the use of these units.  These may work for some, but they increase the cost per household significantly and it is a lot to spend when there is no guarantee they will be used.  Co-collection is a much more economical system. 

Also, these units are not composters.  They are dehydrators.   The end product cannot be used as compost.  Full details here.  

https://www.biocycle.net/electric-kitchen-composter-confusion/

https://www.compostingcouncil.org/page/foodscrap-dehydrators

All schools are required by law to recycle the mandatory recyclables.  All Middletown schools are set up for recycling and there is an additional program to divert food scraps from school kitchens.  MacDonough School has initiated a food scrap composting program in the school cafeteria.  FoodCorp workers are working to expand food waste diversion to other cafeterias as well. The success of each program depends on the level of participation.  We always welcome support from school staff, parents, and students to ensure its success.

Stonington has a two-tiered billing system as well and the cost of collection and administration is paid for in residents’ tax bills. The disposal cost is included in the cost of the bag. Stonington residents have been paying for the trash they generate through the cost of their colored trash bags since the 1990s. They are participating in the co-collection pilot program to better manage their waste.  

The City has changed the way its customers pay for trash.  Trash is now treated like a utility, similar to electricity, where you pay for how much you use. Instead of everyone paying the same flat fee, customers who throw away one or two bags a week, will pay less than those who throw away three or more bags a week.  Customers who reduce waste, recycle right and separate their food scraps will no longer subsidize those who generate more trash.  

All property owners using the Sanitation District cart service received a reduction in their November 2023 bill.  The fee was reduced to include only the operational costs of the District. The cost of disposing of the waste is included in the cost of the orange bag. This is why the cost of the bag is more and, yes, trash disposal is expensive.  If you are not using the required orange bag, you are not paying your bill.  

Since landlords received the cost savings, the City is recommending that they pass these savings on to their tenants by providing a reasonable amount of orange and green bags.  If the lease includes trash disposal services, this should be done. We suggest landlords provide their tenants with a supply of bags equal to the cost savings they received in their bill. This is equivalent to 52 green bags per year (1 bag per week) & 104 orange bags (2 bags per week) per year. This could be split into six month segments, since the billing occurs every six months. Tenants would be required to purchase any additional bags themselves if they use more than this amount.

The City has changed the way its customers pay for trash.  Trash is now treated like a utility, similar to electricity, where you pay for how much you use. Instead of everyone paying the same flat fee, customers who throw away one or two bags a week, will pay less than those who throw away three or more bags a week.  Customers who reduce waste, recycle right and separate their food scraps will no longer subsidize those who generate more trash.  

All property owners using the Sanitation District cart service received a reduction in their November 2023 bill.   The fee was reduced to include only the operational costs of the District. The cost of disposing of the waste is included in the cost of the orange bag. This is why the cost of the bag is more and, yes, trash disposal is expensive.  If you are not using the required orange bag, you are not paying your bill.  

Since landlords received the cost savings, the City is recommending that they pass this savings to their tenants by providing a reasonable amount of orange and green bags.  If the lease includes trash disposal services, this should be done. We suggest landlords provide their tenants with a supply of bags equal to the cost savings they received in their bill. This is equivalent to 52 green bags per year (1 bag per week) & 104 orange bags (2 bags per week) per year. This could be split into six month segments, since the billing occurs every six months. Tenants would be required to purchase any additional bags themselves if they use more than this amount.

If you are a renter, speak to your landlord about providing the required trash bags.  If they refuse, we are providing bags to renters who qualify.  Use our Bag Assistance form to apply.  We are watching this dynamic carefully and want to hear your how this is being handled in the community.  Please contact us at 860-638-4858 or recycling@middletownct.gov if you are having trouble complying with this requirement.  Please note, because of the increasing costs and lack of disposal capacity,  all of us have to rethink how we manage our waste.  We all have to be responsible.  It is very important, that all waste and recycling regulations are followed properly and other actions are taken to reduce the amount of trash that is sent to landfills and incinerators.  If you have ideas on waste reduction, let us know! 

The Sanitation District was formed to collect waste in one congregated area which allows for a pooling of resources and keeps sanitation costs low for customers. The costs of sanitation in the Sanitation District have traditionally been some of the lowest in Connecticut, and have kept pricing down throughout the rest of Middletown.

Before SAYT, the typical sanitation bill for a family in the District was $400 annually. Since SAYT started, a typical household producing an average amount of trash (two 15-gallon orange trash bags and one 8-gallon green food scrap bag per week) will have an annual sanitation cost of $397. The actual cost now depends on how many bags are used during the week.  If a family averages less than two kitchen size bags, or one large 33 gallon bag a week, they are paying less.  If they generate more waste, they are paying more.  

In comparison, private haulers outside the District charge approximately $450 annually.  

With SAYT, the city has the potential to reduce trash disposal costs, as customers reduce waste.  This waste reduction will help control costs, as they continue to escalate.  This effort will pay off in the long run.  Other communities who use this system have been able to keep their prices stable as others have had to increase pricing as the costs have escalated.  The City also does not make a profit. Revenue that is generated goes directly into paying the expenses.  

Contact the Public Works Department at 860-638-4850. 

The City Sanitation District is in a contract through December 2024 to take municipal solid waste to a transfer station facility in Southington where it costs $115 a ton.

Recycling costs are tied to the recycling materials market indexes and change monthly based on how the markets are performing. In addition to the market pricing, there is a fixed processing charge to sort and bale the materials for market.  For the fiscal year of 2023, the processing fee was $90.63 for the City.  Years ago, the City received a revenue for recycling, but that has not been the case since 2017.  The actual cost per ton fluctuates between $70-$90. 

Bottles with a deposit are not separated from the rest of the recyclables. These are factored into the overall price that the City pays.   The Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) sort and bail thousands of tons of recycled materials per day.  

Containers that are not returned for the deposit are called unclaimed deposits, or escheats, and these monies accumulate from containers that are either thrown away or recycled through curbside programs.  These funds are paid to the State of Connecticut, with a portion returned back to the distributor or deposit initiator beginning FY 2023.  

More information on the bottle bill material can be found here. 

Answers to Questions from the Sanitation District Commission meeting on 11/28/2023

Press Coverage of Announcement on Nov. 3, 2023 

• Channel 30
• Channel 8
• Press Release