Resource Recycling Advisory Council

Resource Recycling Advisory Commission Meeting of May 24, 2021 7:00 p.m. Via Webex Members Present: Stephan Allison, Alison Johnson, Rebecca McLachlan, Eleanor Nettleton, Krishna Winston. Members not present: Bessie Bianco, Rafael Bianco, Chantel DeArmitt, Debbie Stanley, Tisha Zawisky, Lydia Wolfe Public Works Staff Present: Kim O’Rourke, Recycling Coordinator, City Staff: Joe Samolis, Director of Planning, Conservation and Development, Kori Wisneski, Deputy General Counsel. Call to Order Ms. Winston called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed Director Joe Samolis and Deputy General Counsel Kori Wisneski. Ms. Winston reviewed the current statewide solid waste situation and asked the guests what the potential was to locate an anaerobic digester in Middletown. Discussion on Potential Siting of Anaerobic Digester Director Samolis said this topic was discussed shortly after Mayor Florsheim was elected. Perhaps ECRRA, Middletown’s trash authority, could help alleviate the crisis caused by MIRA’s imminent decommissioning by reducing organic waste not only in the City but also in the surrounding area. If an anaerobic digester facility were to be sited in Middletown, factors such as traffic, transportation routes, sufficient acreage, and odor control would need to be considered. He said he had identified a possible site on Industrial Park Road. From the point of view of zoning, ease of access to major highways, and distance from residential areas it would serve well, but the size of the facility would determine whether the available parcel was adequate. He stressed his commitment to siting any facility in the most responsible manner. Attorney Wisneski said the trash crisis needs to be addressed by state and federal governments. The Mayor is open to discussions about a facility in Middletown. She was not sure how involved ECRRA would be with a true anaerobic digester, but she noted that ECRRA could be a source of technical expertise and contacts. She felt that Middletown, which is centrally located, could be in a prime position to assist with the looming trash crisis. Members discussed the anaerobic digester facility in Southington, Quantum Biopower. More information is available at http://www.quantumbiopower.com/. Ms. O’Rourke said she and Deputy Director Chris Holden recently visited the facility. The actual operations of the digester are all enclosed and fairly small, although she did not remember the exact dimensions. The plant staff explained that an outdoor composting operation outside the facility composts the residue from the digestive process and other organic material, such as yard waste. Members felt they would like to learn more about this facility and would be interested in a site tour. Deputy General Counsel Wisneski said she appreciated this conversation. It is important to be thinking about this possibility and bringing more stakeholders into the discussion, but she emphasized that the City is nowhere near entering into any kind of agreement in the near future. Director Samolis suggested that if there are ideas commissioners wanted to suggest, they should let him or Deputy General Counsel Wisneski know. The more people working on this, and the more sharing of insights and suggestions, the better. He indicated that if the City were going to go down this path, the procedure would be to hire experts to move this along—perhaps several firms—one for planning and design, and one to build the facility and operate it, or a third firm to run it. Ms. Johnson felt we should reach out to the Southington facility to learn from their experience and ask what they would do differently if they were to undertake the project again. Director Samolis said they have reached out to DEEP and hope to continue a conversation with them. Members talked about other potential areas in town that might work for such a facility. Ms. Winston mentioned a bill being considered by the legislature that she thought would be helpful to increase food-waste separation in the state: RB 930 – Anaerobic Digestion facilities. More information on food waste in CT can be found here: https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-ct-composting-drive-20210321- kqn3m4qyrzeudfu4d4677uvcom-story.html. Director Samolis said he has discussed organizing neighborhood composting efforts with Ms. O’Rourke to try to increase composting. Ms. Winston said she wanted to mention that there is land off Bow Lane that could be an ideal location for composting leaves and other organics. She would like the City to look into that to see if that would be possible. She was very impressed with Branford’s leaf composting operation at its transfer station. Branford contracts out the actual process, but all the compost is used on town property and given away to residents. Acceptance of Minutes 2 Members accepted the minutes of the April meeting as presented. Recycling Coordinator’s Report Ms. O’Rourke referred to her written report and added the following: Update on Feed the Earth restaurant collection The Middle Oak area is all up and running. Blue Earth Compost is getting about 150 lbs per collection, which they feel is low. It may be due to the fact that not many people are eating in, and many restaurants are still not doing as much business as before the pandemic. Metro Square’s management is not allowing food-waste carts to be left on site. That will need to be addressed. This program does save money, and the food-waste carts are cleaner than the trash containers. Ms. Nettleton suggested telling the restaurants that trash bills are going to escalate significantly unless programs like this are put in place, which the Commissioners agreed was an excellent point to raise with these businesses. The next phase of collection will involve the Court Street corner. Members discussed the various hurdles that we are encountering and how to best deal with them. Suggestions included: enlisting the help of the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Business District to encourage restaurants to participate; finding a few enthusiastic restaurants to serve as leaders; and delivering a strong message from the City and/or the Chamber that removing food from the municipal waste stream is an important part of sustainability and needs to be done. Ms. Johnson said this might be a good topic for a Tuesday community meeting. She thought it might be helpful to have Joe Samolis make a guest appearance to talk about it briefly. She promised to share the link to those meetings. In the discussion about food waste collection that followed, Ms. O’Rourke suggested that it was important to offer diverse ways for residents to separate their food waste. Of course, curbside collection would be best, but that would be costly, and no funding is available. A program would include drop-off sites, community composting, and neighborhood composting, with outreach to different types of neighborhoods to make the process more inclusive. RecycleCt Lee Sawyer Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant Ms. O’Rourke said she was planning to submit a community composting grant in collaboration with Wesleyan Sustainability and CT River Coastal Conservation District. The idea would be to work with families who participate in the community gardens and teach them to compost their food waste there. She was in the process of reaching out to the various gardens. She said she had also approached RiverCog about coordinating a regional educational/enforcement program entailing inspections of recycling carts and leaving information on problematic practices. RiverCOG considered inspections somewhat 3 intrusive and were not interested in supporting the effort. Ms. O’Rourke, however, defended inspections as an important and very effective tool for educating residents about what belongs in the bin. Members discussed the pros and cons of such a program. Ms. O’Rourke asked if there were other ideas for this grant program. Coffee hour with the Mayor Ms. O’Rourke said she and Deputy Director Chris Holden were meeting monthly with the Mayor to share ideas. Ms. Winston asked that her idea of having a local leaf- and yard-waste composting facility at the Bow Lane gravel pit be presented. Members felt that would be wonderful, especially if residents could receive compost from it. Other Ms. Johnson raised the issue of using the SeeClickFix app to report illegal dumping, especially mattresses. She said she hadn’t heard the Mayor talk about this, seeming to focus more on potholes and road conditions. She thought an expanded vision of how the app could be used would be helpful. Ms. O’Rourke responded that they definitely get reports of illegal dumping on SeeClickFix, but she could mention publicizing this kind of reporting, because there was certainly a lot of debris on the roadsides. Ms. Winston suggested pushing for more neighborhood clean-ups. Cinder+Salt has done many. She thought Rachel DeCavage, the owner, might be asked to consider River Road and other areas that need cleaning. Various groups might be interested in helping with particular parts of town. Swap Shack Ms. Winston gave the Director the Commission’s concerns about the Swap Shack. He responded only to the height of the walls, by asking the building inspector to confirm that there would not be a ceiling. No other items were addressed, including the need for a smaller door to deter people from bringing in large items. In-person meetings Members discussed switching back to in-person meetings. They felt there was no reason to rush into this, and it was better to watch the positivity rate and see what the situation was in the fall. Farmers Market The Market will run June 19–Oct. 19. Ms. O’Rourke said she would be there on Fridays between 10am and 2pm on South Green, collecting food waste, weighing it, and then depositing it at the transfer station. She hoped to have a kit for residents for food scraps. This would include a kitchen-counter container, a larger transportation container, and compostable bags. Residents would be required to sign a pledge to separate food waste. Starting at the end of June, UConn Master Composters will staff the table on some Fridays. Ms. O’Rourke said she will send out a sign-up sheet for those 4 Fridays when the Master Composters would not be there; it would be helpful for members to sign up to assist on those Fridays. She also hoped residents of South Middletown would be available to check on the Blue Earth food-waste drop-off site on Randolph Road, scheduled to be available soon. Open Air Market—August 29 RRAC has committed to being at this event with the Wesleyan Wishing Well. Members discussed what to sort of giveaway to have. Mugs? Reusable straws (much lighter!). Other ideas? Adjournment The motion to adjourn was made at 8:30 p.m. by Ms. Johnson and seconded by Ms. MacLachlan. All voted in favor. Respectfully submitted, Kim O’Rourke Kim O’Rourke Recycling Coordinator 5