New Haven committee backs application for DEEP co‑collection grant to divert food scraps

The New Haven Board of Alders' City Services and Environmental Policy Committee voted to apply for and accept a Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Sustainable Materials Management Round 2 grant to pilot a co‑collection system that uses standardized bags for trash and a smaller bag for food scraps, city staff said at the Oct. 16 meeting.

Steven Winter, executive director of climate and sustainability, told the committee the grant application aims to fund a two- to three-year rollout that would start with organics collection and use color-coded bags so existing trucks and crews can collect organics and refuse together. "We would just start with the organics," Winter said, explaining the bags would be collected in the same tote and sorted later at a transfer-station facility.

The proposal would provide free starter bags to residents, a network of retail points to sell ongoing supplies, and a…