September 2018
E-newsletter highlighting grant deadlines, upcoming workshops and available resources for municipal recycling and solid waste leaders.
FY 2018 Annual Municipal Recycling Report

DUE on or before
September 30, 2108

There are two major sections of the Annual Municipal Recycling Report.
The first section (Parts 1-5) asks for information regarding the destination, and in some cases the tonnages, of material recycled from within the borders of your municipality in FY2018. 

Access the instructions and the First Section 2018 Reporting Form (Parts 1-5)  
 
The second section (Part 6) is a qualitative survey regarding efforts made by the municipality to promote recycling and source reduction and to enforce their local recycling ordinance. 


Both sections of the report must be completed and submitted to DEEP on or before September 30 th to fulfill reporting requirements. 

Please contact Paula Guerrera (860) 424-3334 or Peter Brunelli (860) 424-3536.
What's IN, What's OUT campaign wins a several of awards
Creating a universal list for all CT towns makes so much sense - making it easier for all our residents - and it appears to be quite novel as well.

Commissioner Klee accepted a State Program Innovation Award from ECOS at their fall meeting. ECOS is a nonprofit association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders and each fall recognizes innovative state initiatives.

A short video promoting the What's IN, What's OUT campaign was shared at the ECOS meeting.

This spring, Decker Creative, the marketing firm that works with RecycleCT and CT DEEP, received two awards from AD Club CT associated with the What's IN, What's OUT campaign.

Decker received a Gold award in the Single Ad/Radio Commercial category for the Recycling Opera and a Silver award in the digital & social/website category for the RecycleCT website.
Zero Waste Schools Coalition forming; first joint meeting is in October
Through the efforts of Wilton Go Green, the Zero Waste schools coalition was formed to create a platform for schools in Connecticut to connect, learn and share ways to introduce or enhance programming to reduce waste in our schools.

At the meeting attendees will hear from members of the Wilton Zero Waste schools committee, Center for EcoTechnology, Curbside Compost, Chartwells Food Service, and more.
 
The first Zero Waste Schools Coalition meeting will be held:

October 17, 2018 - 7:00-9:00pm
Middlebrook School cafeteria
131 School Road, Wilton

Email coalition chairman with questions at Tammy Thornton .
CT WRAP Campaign Shows Increase in Awareness
CT DEEP in partnership with the American Chemistry Council, the Connecticut Food Association, grocery stores, plastic makers, municipalities and other recycling advocates have successfully increased awareness of plastic film recycling through its CT Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP).
While paid media and advertising focused on the greater Hartford area, promotion and collection efforts were coordinated around the state. Consumers were to bring plastic film packaging, including plastic bags to retail stores and keep it out of curbside recycling bins. 
Following months of outreach, audits of material collected at retail stores in the greater Hartford area found:

  • 11% increase in the amount of plastic bags collected
  • 7% increase in the amount of “other film” collected
  • 23% decrease in non-film packaging “contamination.”

A post-campaign survey of adults in the greater Hartford area found:
  • 9% increase in respondents who heard they could recycle flexible plastics at grocery stores (63 percent versus 54 percent);
  • Significant increases in those who said they knew which items to take back to stores (e.g., plastic bags: 15 percentage points increase, plastic bread bags: 17 points, plastic newspaper bags: 13 points); and
  • 10% increase in those who said they take plastic film packaging back to stores either “most of the time” or “always/all of the time” (40 percent versus 30 percent).
  
In addition to the CT WRAP Campaign Report , the CT campaign released five short videos featuring the campaign’s retail partner, Price Chopper. The videos highlight the benefits to retailers of collecting and recycling plastic film packaging. Connecticut’s program built on best practices and lessons learned in previous WRAP campaigns.
For more information contact, Sherill Baldwin .
CCM Training

Engaging Residents in Better Recycling: Promotion, Outreach, Education, and Enforcement
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Newtown Town Hall
3 Primrose Street
Newtown, CT 06470
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Check-in beings at 8:30 a.m.

Learn about different recycling promotion and outreach efforts that your towns can utilize to engage residents in better recycling practices. Education and knowledge can inform, but alone, they will not lead to action. Arrive ready to learn and participate in activities and discussion to better how your town approaches recycling.

Free to CCM members.  Register Now.
What's IN? What's OUT?
Recent Questions from CT residents
Can I put the bottles used for the Sodastream appliance in recycling bin?

Research uncovered that sodastream is a brand that makes machines that create fizzy or carbonated water. They also sell accessories, including glass and plastic bottles - some with plastic bases and/or metal rims on top.

Responses from MRF operators were "No Thanks".

Sodastream bottles are OUT of the mixed recycling bin.
Are pool solar covers recyclable?

Pool covers are definitely OUT of the mixed recycling bin. 

Will someone else recycle? Not that we could find.

Pool covers are made of a variety of materials. Because they are used for multiple years, the material they are made from is also likely to be very degraded, in addition to being dirty and possibly moldy.
CT Programs in the News
Study to focus on plastics in Sound (Greenwich Times, August 27)
Teen brigade attacks Naugatuck River (Republican American, August 5)
Green Teens Turn to Composting (New Haven Independent, August 3)
Containers corral old fishing line (Bridgeport News, August 3)
Get that bulk trash off the curb, West Haven (New Haven Register, August 2) 
Klee decries slow progress on $229M waste-system overhaul (Hartford Business Journal, July 31)
Montville hopes to cut trash disposal costs (Norwich Bulletin, July 22)
Washington launches new recycling initiative (County Times, Jul 19, 2018)
Trashed recycling market costs Stamford taxpayers $700K (Stamford Advocate, July 14, 2018)
Recycling goes from profitable to costly (Republican-American, July 9
     Upcoming Events:

August 31 - September 29, 2018 -   "Recycle!" art exhibit, Canton's Artist Guild, 5 Canton Green Road, Canton. Open hours Friday-Sunday, 1-5pm. Hosted by at  Gallery on the Green.
 
Monday, September 10, 2018 - 1:30-3:00pm EDT - Buying Recycled & Environmentally Preferred Purchasing webinar . Hosted by CT DEEP.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018 - 10:00am - Going Green with Food Waste for Event Venues, Banquet Facilities, and Hotels…  webinar. Hosted by CT DEEP, Pollution Prevention

Friday, September 14, 2018 - 10:00am - 1:00pm EDT. 2018 CRC Annual Meeting . Includes keynote speaker Alexandra Dunn, Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 1 and panelists Mallory Szczepanski, Waste360 and Cole Rosengren, WasteDive. Hosted by CT Recyclers Coalition.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 - 9:30-11:30am - CT Solid Waste Advisory Committing meeting . McCarthy Auditorium, CT DEEP, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106. Upcoming and past agendas and presentations . Hosted by CT DEEP.

NEW!  Wednesday, October 17, 2018 - 7:00-9:00pm - Zero Waste Schools Coalition meeting , Middlebrook School cafeteria, 131 School Road, Wilton. Hosted by Wilton Zero Waste Schools. For more information visit WZWS website or email Tammy Thornton , Coalition Chairperson.

NEW! Monday, October 29, 2018 - 2:00-3:00pm - CT Solid Waste Data webinar Join us for a webinar/conference call about why data is collected, possible data changes and the future of e-reporting. Hosted by CT DEEP.

October 30-31, 2018  The Future of MRFs conference, NERC's Fall Conference. Rocky Hill, Connecticut. Hosted by the Northeast Recycling Council.
Have an idea or topic for future municipal recycling conference call/webinar? Let us know what you and your colleagues would like to learn more about. Contact Sherill Baldwin .
CT DEEP | Source Reduction & Recycling Group | 860-424-4193 | www.ct.gov/deep/recycle