West Hartford To Turn Rotting Pumpkins Into Clean Energy

Town of West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — There's a lot on folks' plates this time of year, but if figuring out what you're doing about the decaying pumpkin on your front stoop, West Hartford has an answer.

Just turn in into biofuel.

Starting on Friday, Nov. 1 and continuing through Dec. 1, the Town of West Hartford will set up two pumpkin recycling locations in town.

There, the pumpkins will be "recycled" into biofuel, courtesy of Quantum Biopower in Southington.

"If you cannot compost your pumpkins at home, please drop them off for composting rather than putting this organic material in the trash," wrote the Town of West Hartford this week.

"This is a great opportunity for West Hartford residents to reduce waste this holiday."

In 2023, West Hartford residents diverted 25,000 pounds of pumpkins from the waste stream.

Collected pumpkins are sent to Quantum and turned into energy and compost.

The drop-off locations in West Hartford are:

• West Hartford Department of Public Works, 17 Brixton St., West Hartford

• Westmoor Park, 119 Flag Road, West Hartford. Feeding the pumpkins to the farm animals there is strictly prohibited.

In addition, no plastic bags, trash, or recyclables can be dumped in those special bins.

With cold weather comes the long-range possibility of snow, so the dates may change in the event of an early arrival of winter.