West Hartford Warned About Yard Waste In Garbage

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The town of West Hartford has been told to cut it out with the grass clippings in the garbage. The town was warned Friday by its trash hauler that its waste has “high volumes of yard waste contamination, in particular, grass clippings.”

“Every time a load of trash is rejected, the Town of West Hartford is fined and has to pay the clean-up costs,” according to a post on the town’s Facebook page. “These costs translate into a tax expenditure that is truly controllable by all of us.” Read more from the town below:

So, what can you do with grass clippings?

1. Participate in the final round of West Hartford’s Spring Yard Waste Collection, held June 4-8. Bag the clippings in 30-gallon biodegradable leaf bags and put the bags at the curb by 6:00 AM on your trash day.

2. Bring your yard waste to the Yard Waste & Recycling Center. You get unlimited use of the Recycling Center with an annual permit. Permits may be purchased on-line or in person at the Recycling Center, operated by Supreme Forest Products, located at 25 Brixton Street. Cash, check and credit cards are accepted.

3. Mow your grass twice (depending on the length) and leave the clippings in place. The nitrogen from the grass provides no-cost, all natural nutrients to your lawn.

4. Create a home compost bin in your backyard and put the clippings there. Intersperse layers of grass clippings with dry leaves. The result is ‘black gold,’ a rich fertilizer that your plants and flowers love.

Please remember all yard waste is recyclable. Grass clippings and other yard waste material such as leaves, pine needles, pine cones, acorns, twigs, dead plant matter and thatch cannot be trashed.

Public Works will increase its enforcement efforts to inspect for yard waste contamination mixed with trash. Trash barrels with yard waste in them will be rejected and contents will not collected.

Let’s all do our part and recycle!

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the Department of Public Works between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at 860-561-8100 or visit www.westhartfordct.gov/publicworks. Also visit our Spring Yard Waste Collection web page.

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