Middletown commission hears coordinator report on litter cleanup, food‑waste pilots and synthetic-ice disposal

At its Nov. 25 meeting the Middletown Resource Recycling Advisory Commission received a report from Kim, the recycling coordinator, on a slate of ongoing programs and pilots addressing waste reduction and reuse.

Kim said the city has transitioned the bag-assistance program to a paid application model so residents pay a modest fee for orange bags under the "Save As You Throw" structure. She also said the sanitation district will vote on an education-and-enforcement plan designed to raise compliance rates from about 80% toward a 95% target needed for the program to be self‑sustaining.

The commission discussed disposal and reuse options for a portable synthetic ice surface the recreation department is retiring. Howard Weisberg, acting director of public works, described the surface as a synthetic, interlocking panel system that can shred into small plastic particles with heavy use; staff proposed reselling used panels on marketplace or auction sites, offering them to community groups for art or practice use, or finding small-scale repurposing options. "Maybe you could just look to reuse it as opposed to repurpose," Howard said, noting resale to individuals with basement practice setups is common for similar panels.

Members also considered a Little Free Library near the swap shack and agreed that a volunteer or scout-built weatherproof box would be suitable; commissioners said spare materials in the swap shack or donated plywood could be used to construct a roughly two‑foot cube library.

On litter cleanup, Kim proposed two complementary approaches: (1) distribute individual 'litter kits' with gloves, vests, grabbers and bags for residents who pick up while walking their routes, and (2) support organized neighborhood cleanups with city pickup of collected bags. Staff noted residents in the sanitation district have previously been allowed to use City Yard dumpsters for collected trash during certain hours.

Commissioners also discussed restaurant outreach to reduce food waste. A committee member described Too Good To Go, a platform that lets businesses offer discounted 'mystery' bags of surplus food to consumers, as a low-effort channel for restaurants to reduce waste. Kim and others raised confusion around 'compostable' packaging: the city’s anaerobic digester in Southington accepts only food scraps, and some compostable packaging used by restaurants is processed at out‑of‑area commercial composting facilities for an extra fee.

Finally, Kim described piloting small dehydrator/'mill' units at businesses and with a high school ag program to reduce food scraps arriving in collection carts. The units dehydrate food into a dry, nitrogen‑rich material; commissioners noted the devices are costly, may require replacement carbon cartridges and sometimes have connectivity issues for data reporting.

The commission approved its calendar of meeting dates for the coming year and agreed to circulate a poll to schedule a special December session devoted to the sustainability ordinance.