CONNECTICUT, USA — Food Waste Prevention Week is underway in the state of Connecticut as of Monday, the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced Wednesday.
Gov. Ned Lamont has declared that the state is celebrating Food Waste Prevention Week from April 1-7, and DEEP said that the agency is highlighting the need to reduce food waste and recover more for human consumption as a social, environmental and economic issue.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Connecticut residents throw away 520,000 tons of food waste with the potential to be eaten each year. One in 10 individuals in the state simultaneously experiences hunger or food insecurity.
After MIRA, a waste-to-energy facility, closed its doors in Hartford in July 2022, Connecticut now ships about 40% of its municipal solid waste to out-of-state landfills annually. DEEP estimated that amounts to 860,000 tons each year.
DEEP is working with municipalities to implement programs that reduce, reuse and recycle more materials, including food, to lessen Connecticut’s reliance on shipping waste out of state.
“Connecticut Food Waste Prevention Week is a great opportunity to inform residents about the need to reduce food waste,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “We need to reduce waste overall, and reducing food waste by learning how to better manage food in our homes and recover more surplus food from grocers and large institutions is a win-win.”
The food waste diversion efforts that DEEP has supported throughout the state go together with food waste prevention. Through DEEP’s Sustainable Materials Management Grant program, the agency has provided funding to support food scrap diversion pilot programs in 15 municipalities.
The voluntary programs have proven the potential to meaningfully reduce waste, helping to avoid disposing of more than one million pounds of food scraps and leading to a 14% reduction in waste thrown away on average.
“The SMM pilots have been a success in that they have demonstrated the ability to separate food waste, increase waste diversion and confirmed the potential to save Connecticut municipalities millions of dollars if widely adopted,” Dykes said.
DEEP estimates that about 22.3% of the state’s municipal solid waste is food waste and that 70% of it was still edible before being disposed of, meaning it could have fed people. DEEP said it is currently developing a Food Waste Prevention and Food Recovery Roadmap to better comprehend the challenges and opportunities for businesses and institutions to reduce food loss and donate surplus food.
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The agency is also working to identify ways to support entities that collect and receive excess food. According to DEEP, data shows that Connecticut is only recovering 1-2% of the excess or surplus food in the state, representing a significant chance to recover more food to be eaten while throwing away less.
Lamont said schools play a special role in educating the next generation to reduce, recover and recycle food. He encouraged each Connecticut resident to do all they can to keep food waste out of the trash.
According to DEEP, simple strategies can help reduce food waste at home, including proper storage of recently purchased food as well as leftovers. It can also be helpful to create a shopping list based on planned meals, which can reduce the amount of food going to waste.
For more information, DEEP has resources available online, some of which can be accessed here and here.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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