Circular Services, HRRA partner to reduce food waste in Connecticut

The Brookfield, Connecticut-based Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA) and Circular Services, a New York City-based provider of recycling and other circular economy services, have announced a regional initiative to address food waste in Connecticut. 

HRRA will launch its “Don't Throw It, Grow It!” campaign this spring, aimed at providing outreach, technical assistance and training to businesses and institutions with significant amounts of food waste.  

The organization says its goals for the program are to help businesses and institutions reduce food waste before its created, separate organic material from waste streams, recover or donate food when possible and find partners to process food scraps through composting and anaerobic digestion. 

Food waste accounts for an estimated 22 percent of Connecticut’s waste stream, which accounts to more than one billion pounds per year, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). HRRA says most of this organic material is incinerated or landfilled at rising economic and environmental costs. 

Connecticut lawmakers strengthened the Commercial Organics Recycling Law in 2023 to address this challenge, expanding the number of businesses and institutions subject to food scrap separation and composting requirements. HRRA says that while this legislation is an improvement and has gained the attention of some businesses, the state is still lagging on recycling goals. 

HRRA conducted a bidding process last year for an organic waste solution provider and selected Southington, Connecticut-based Quantum Organics, part of Circular Services, as its partner to tackle food waste.  

“For many years, HRRA has supported member municipalities and their residents in addressing Connecticut's growing waste crisis,” says Jen Heaton-Jones, HRRA executive director. “As a result of this partnership, our capacity to provide outreach on this important issue has greatly expanded. We now have the resources and experience to provide comprehensive food waste solutions to local businesses in our community. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to environmental stewardship and common-sense solutions that work in the real world.”  

The organization says it chose Circular Services because of its integrated operating platform that combines outreach, education and training with collection, transportation and composting, offering an end-to-end solution for communities and businesses. Business owners will have the opportunity to collaborate directly with food waste experts at Circular Services to establish a customized food waste reduction program.  

“We commend HRRA’s innovative and forward-thinking approach,” says Brian Paganini, Circular Services vice president of organics. “It aligns perfectly with the philosophy with which we run our business. Solutions for food waste exist and are ready to scale. We are excited to have this opportunity to bring our solutions to the HRRA region to help businesses and the community.”