West Hartford plans to build a new recycling center. Here’s how it’s part of having ‘a solution for whatever residents have to throw away.’
West Hartford has entered the preliminary stages of development for a new recycling center and the closure of a historic landfill as a proactive step to addressing central Connecticut’s changing waste landscape, officials said.
The construction of the 16,900-square-foot Material Solution Center will include updates to the 10.9-acre property located at 25 Brixton St. in West Hartford, which houses the current Yard Waste and Recycling Center and a landfill that ceased operations in the 1970s.
West Hartford Director of Public Works John Phillips said that the town decided to update its waste and recycling facilities to prepare for changes in Connecticut’s waste management markets driven by the slated closure of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority’s trash-to-energy plant in Hartford.
The MIRA plant serves 48 towns. In 2020, after Gov. Ned Lamont rejected a $330 million proposal to refurbish the plant, MIRA board members voted to shut down facility operations by June 30, 2022, though a delay is expected. Now municipalities across Connecticut are searching for other options, such as hauling waste out of state, to dispose of their trash.
State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes has said spending $300 million on an antiquated plant would not have solved the state’s trash crisis.
“MIRA closing absolutely changes the central Connecticut waste landscape,” Phillips said. “As the public works director, I’m trying to be proactive and not reactive…with how West Hartford manages its waste going forward.”
Once completed, Phillips said that the facility will sort and transfer glass, plastics, food waste and bulk waste dropped off by residents.
“The focus is just to do better to support the West Hartford citizenry…to reduce our waste and divert more of our materials that we do create for waste in a more economic and environmentally friendly way,” Phillips said. “We hope to have a solution for whatever residents have to throw away.”
Phillips said that the town is awaiting permits from the Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. He said that he hopes to break ground on construction between January and March of 2023.
Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc. of Plainville, Connecticut will oversee the project’s development.
The construction of the new facility will occur in stages, so residents can continue to bring their trash and recycling to the center without interruption, Phillips said.
The closure of the landfill at the site will include placing a cap over the existing area and a two-foot layer of soil materials to promote vegetation growth.
Philips said that while there are no current environmental hazards, sealing the landfill will prevent any future pollution by ensuring that water runs off the site instead of penetrating into the waste.
“The final closure of the landfill will eliminate the Town’s environmental liability associated with the site and...provide enhanced means to waste management,” Loureiro Engineering Associates wrote in a May 18 letter to the West Hartford Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency.
A public hearing on the project by the town wetlands agency is planned for 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 6 in room 314 of the West Hartford Town Hall, 50 South Main St. .
Alison Cross can be reached at across@courant.com.
