With the recent closure of a substantial waste-to-energy plant, waste management has become a pressing issue for Connecticut, which now ships 40% of its garbage to Ohio and Pennsylvania at a significant cost. The need to find cost-effective, sustainable waste management solutions is acute; emissions reduction strategies can play an essential role in solving Connecticut's waste problem.  Reductions in the waste stream at all points of the supply chain have environmental, economic, and public health benefits beyond greenhouse gas reductions by lowering pollution from nitrogen, plastics, and toxins. Repairing, reusing, and reclaiming materials and the development of composting programs and anaerobic digesters for biogas also offer areas for workforce development. (CT DEEP, 2023; NVCOG, 2023; WasteZero, 2020). 

While waste is a relatively small contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it’s an area in which residents and municipalities can make a significant impact. In addition, reductions in the waste stream have environmental, economic, and public health benefits beyond greenhouse gas reductions. These include lowering pollution from nitrogen, plastics, and various toxins, and encouraging reductions in waste at all areas of the supply chain. Repairing, reusing, and reclaiming materials offer areas for economic opportunity as well. Food waste is of particular interest: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 58% of landfill emissions come from food waste (US EPA, 2023a). Waste-focused emissions reduction strategies can also play an important role in addressing waste management capacity and cost concerns. In addition, such strategies will reduce air pollution from incinerators and carbon emissions produced by transporting waste to other parts of the country (NVCOG, 2023).