Companies Strike Deal to Bring Organic Recycling to Connecticut

By Gary Jeanfaivre

All those leftovers we end up trashing can really pile up. In fact, according to the website Earth911, an estimated 100 billion pounds of food is wasted each year in the U.S. 

With a partnership formed last week, two companies are looking to capitalize on all that organic material in Connecticut.

According to a press release from Covanta Energy Corp., the company brokered a 10-year deal with Turning Earth, LLC to provide organic recycling to residents and business owners in Central Connecticut.

Turning Earth will build, own and operate the facility — at a location to be determined — and Covanta will divert the organic material there, according to the terms of the contract.

Covanta says organic material, including yard waste, will be recycled into high quality compost, among other commodities.

“We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with Turning Earth,” Stephen Diaz, Covanta Energy Vice President, said. “Organics recycling is important to our customers and an important part of CT DEEP’s goals. This arrangement will now enable Covanta to provide our area municipal and commercial customers the ability to include organics recycling within their sustainable waste management programs.”

Macky McCleary, deputy commissioner of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), told the New Haven Register:

“This is exactly the approach needed to drive down solid waste disposal costs and make more appropriate use of resources. It is also an approach supported by the state’s Solid Waste Management Plan and the governor’s Modernizing Recycling Working Group.”

Facility construction is anticipated to begin in the latter half of 2014 following site selection, the receipt of permits and procurement of organic waste, Covanta says.

The company's existing Connecticut facilities generate clean, renewable energy for more than 34,000 homes in the state and recycle enough metal to build more than 12,000 automobiles annually.