E-newsletter highlighting grant deadlines, upcoming workshops and available resources for municipal recycling and solid waste leaders. |
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Doing Business with DEEP during the COVID-19 Pandemic
DEEP is continuing to carry out its mission and provide services while keeping both the public and our workforce safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click on link for the latest updates on DEEP's COVID-19 Response.
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New Initiative:
Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management
(CCSMM)
Connecticut is looking to the future of waste reduction and sustainable materials management. DEEP and many municipalities from across the state are joining together to form the Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management (CCSMM) and explore ways to reduce the amount of waste that is generated in our state, improve reuse, recycling, organics collection, and other innovative solutions.
CCSMM is looking to the future to find preferred ways to reduce and manage the amount of waste produced in Connecticut that provide system reliability, environmental sustainable, and fiscal predictability. A full list of the participating jurisdictions is included at the end of this page, and will be updated as more jurisdictions sign on over time.
Kick-Off Meetings for the CCSMM Working Groups:
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Working Group
Thursday, October 8, 2020, 10:00am-12:00pm Register
Food Scraps/Organics Collection & Diversion Working Group
Friday, October 9, 2020, 9:00am-11:00am Register
Increase Recycling Working Group
Unit Based Pricing Working Group
October 15, 2020, 1:00pm-3:00pm Register
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CCSMM
Questions Seeking Public Comments
The Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management (CCSMM, or Coalition) is an initiative of the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) and 74 municipalities in the State of Connecticut, intended to identify scalable solutions for reducing waste disposal.
The Coalition is focusing its efforts on four areas—Unit-Based Pricing, Organics, Increasing Recycling, and Extended Producer Responsibility—which will each be explored in more detail during October and November 2020 in a dedicated working group.
The Coalition is eager to engage the public, interested stakeholders, affected communities, and members of the waste sector—including service providers, developers, and innovators—to solicit input, concepts, and considerations for sustainable materials management solutions in four focus areas, described in greater detail below.
To initiate that engagement, the Coalition invites interested members of the public to provide responses to any and all of the questions listed below. Comments will be posted on the CCSMM website at https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP-CCSMM. Comments are requested on the described focus areas by October 15, 2020, though late comments can be submitted and will be considered as received through the fall of 2020, when the Coalition will be conducting its work.
Sign-Up for Updates on the CCSMM initiative.
CCSMM webpage provides presentations and recording from the September 8th Kick-Off Meeting
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RecycleCT Conducting Recycling Economic Information Study
This summer RecycleCT awarded Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) with a contract to conduct an Recycling Economic Information (REI) study.
RRS staff will be surveying municipalities as well as recycling processors and haulers to learn number of jobs and other information for the study.
REI studies estimate the economic impacts of the recycling industry in a specific geographic area. RecycleCT's study will focus on the economic impacts of residential recycling in the state of Connecticut - which will focus on the mixed recycling program (curbside and transfer stations) as well as the bottle bill program, and the three stewardship programs that are primarily residential (paint, mattresses and electronics).
RRS will combine primary survey data with secondary data from published sources to estimate the recycling economy related jobs at the NAICS code level in the state. These data will be entered into a state level input-output model to calculate the direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts, including tax revenue, of the recycled economy in Connecticut. The outcome of the project will be a high-level report, including an executive summary, documenting the methodology, NAICS code job findings, direct, indirect, and induced impacts of residential single stream recycling in Connecticut. The report should be completed by the end of December 2020.
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CCM & HRRA Host Six Part Series
Waste Management and Recycling in Connecticut
Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM) and the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA) have partnered for a six part series, Waste Management and Recycling in Connecticut.
This series will provide an education on the basics of what’s currently happening to Connecticut's waste and recycling, how it is managed, where it is going, and what capacity currently is available.
These training programs will serve as a tool to help Connecticut leaders begin to look towards the future of creating a sustainable waste management system.
Dates of Entire Series:
September 10
September 24
October 15
November 5
November 19
December 10
More information can be found on the CCM Calendar page. Individual webinars are also listed under "Upcoming Events"
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Missed recent webinars?
CT Compost Conference Webinar Series (Partnership of CRC&D, CT NOFA, CT DEEP)
Municipal Case Studies: September 9, 2020
EPR Master Classes, Hosted by ISWI
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Waste Management and
Recycling Series
Hosted by CCM & HRRA
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Hosted by NERC & NEWMOA
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EPR Master Classes
Hosted by EXPRA, PSI and ISWA
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Resources for Those Working on Equity or Anti-Racist Programs or Policy Development
CT DEEP's
Equity and Environmental Justice in Climate Solutions Webinar Series
Each webinar will be held for one hour at noon each Thursday from September 10, 2020 through November 19, 2020. The general format will be 30 minutes of presentation, 10 minutes of host-facilitated discussion, and 20 minutes of questions and answers with the audience.
All sessions will be recorded and accessible from this website.
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Webinar Recording:
From the National Zero Waste Conference hosted by the National Recycling Coalition and Northern California Recycling Association
August 27, 2020.
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Virtual ReCook Café
Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA
Tuesdsay, November 10, 2020
2:00pm
The virtual ReCook Cafe will feature a mix of live and recorded cooking demonstrations of four professional chefs who will be sharing their favorite tips, tricks, techniques, and more to help you get the most out of your food, reducing waste while creating delicious dishes that are sure to make you go "Mmmm!".
Join this appetizing presentation to learn best practices for maximizing the shelf-life of perishable produce, using parts of foods you didn't know were so tasty, compiling odds and ends to create new tasty eats, and so much more. Preventing wasted food is not only good for your tummy and your budget, it's one of the top ways we can address climate change. Now that's scrumptious!
Presenters include:
Chef Abigail Henson
Founder, Farm Girl Juicery
Chef Peter Ricardo
Product Donation Manager, Food Bank of Central New York
Chef Morgan Waite
Culnary Educator, Honest Weight Food Coop
Chef Jim McCarthy
Chef/Owner, The Market Mill
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School-Educator Resources |
CEC Food Matters Action Kit
The Commission of Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has created a kit to help families and educators educate children and youth about food waste prevention. The Food Matters Action Kit is filled with informative resources and hands-on, creative activities to inspire youth of all ages to prevent food waste at home, at school and in their communities. Includes videos, images, information and opportunities to earn badges.
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CET in partnership with BioCycle published:
Community Composting Tip Sheets from NERC
As part of a USDA Rural Utilities Services Solid Waste Management Grant, NERC has published a series of tip sheets for community composting. Newly published are:
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Archived Municipal Recycling Coordinators E-News and Webinars
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What's IN? What's OUT?
Cartons and Aseptic Packaging Are IN
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In partnership with the Carton Council, The RecycleCT Foundation has created a mini-campaign promoting carton and aseptic packaging. With schools being fully virtual, in-person or a hybrid, how and where children eat their lunch is impacting the recovery of milk cartons. This mini-campaign is focusing on parents of school-aged children as well as schools promoting the message that these items are "IN" and needed.
As per all RecycleCT materials, these are available for all municipalities, haulers and others to use to promote recycling in Connecticut. These images and more will be posted on the RecycleCT webpage once the paid media campaign is complete.
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Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 - 2:00pm - Voluntary Initiatives Driving the Use of Minimum Recycled Content in Products & Packaging webinar. For more information. Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - 9:00am - Master Class: EPR Systems and Vertical Integration webinar. For more information. Hosted by EXPRA, Product Stewardship Institute and ISWA.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm - Composting: Feedstocks, Equipment, Siting, Infrastructure & Management webinar. For more information. Hosted by number of partners including CT NOFA, CT RC&D, CT DEEP and RecycleCT, part of CT Compost Conference Webinar Series.
Thursday, October 15, 2020 - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Waste Management Series Part 3: The Burden of Collection and Disposal webinar. For more information. Hosted by CCM and HRRA.
October 20-22, 2020 - The Changing Face of Recycling: Finding New Solutions, NERC Fall 2020 Virtual Conference. For more information. Hosted by the NERC.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 2:00pm - 3:30pm - Container Deposit Laws Taking their Effectiveness to the Next Level through Global Best Practices webinar. For more information. Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA.
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 4:00 - 6:00pm - Farm Composting: Case Studies/Updates webinar. For more information. Hosted by number of partners including CT NOFA, CT RC&D, CT DEEP and RecycleCT, part of CT Compost Conference Webinar Series.
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Waste Management Series Part 4: Is Source Separation a Solution or Mistake? webinar. For more information. Hosted by CCM and HRRA.
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 2:00pm - Driving Recycling Markets - Introduction to the Government Recycling Demand Champion Program webinar. For more information. Hosted by NERC.
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - 10:00am - 2020 Fall WasteWise Forum. Forum will focus on businesses and institutions that generate and divert food waste. For more information. Hosted by RecyclingWorks Massachusetts, MA DEP, EPA.
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - 2:00pm - Virtual ReCook Café live & prerecorded videos. For more information. Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA.
Thursday, November 12, 2020 - 1:30pm - 3:00pm - Should Municipalities Get Back in the MRF Game? webinar. For More information. Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 8:00am - 4:30pm - Using Recycled Content in Infrastructure Workshop, Concord, New Hampshire. For more information. Hosted by NERC and NEWMOA.
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Waste Management Series Part 5: Financial Implications webinar. For more information. Hosted by CCM and HRRA.
Thursday, December 10, 2020 - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Waste Management Series Part 6: Legislation Surrounding Solid Waste and Recycling webinar. For more information. Hosted by CCM and HRRA.
Thursday, December 17, 2020 - 2:00pm - Zero Waste Marketing Your Program: Strategies for Giveaways webinar. For more information. Hosted by CURC.
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Have an idea or topic for future municipal recycling webinar? Let us know what you and your colleagues would like to learn more about. Contact Sherill Baldwin.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request an accommodation contact us at (860) 418-5910 or deep.accommodations@ct.gov.
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CT DEEP | Source Reduction & Recycling Group | 860-424-4193 | www.ct.gov/deep/recycle |
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