title
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERS OF THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $90,000.00 FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR FOR THE COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION FOOD SYSTEM POLICY DIVISION TO DEVELOP WITH PARTNERS A PILOT COMMUNITY COMPOSTING SYSTEM.
body
WHEREAS, in 2016, the DEEP found that 41.4% of household trash is food and yard waste and compostable paper and New Haven does not have its own community composting facility, resulting in a need to ship this compostable material to Bridgeport and Hartford where it is incinerated;
WHEREAS, in its Climate and Sustainability Framework (January 2018), the City of New Haven established a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 and in Goal 4 for Materials Management calls for an increase in composting opportunities through three strategies: (a) Expand community-level composting; (b) Create a city-wide composting program; and (c) Explore creating a regional partnership around waste disposal, particularly focused on Composting.
WHEREAS, the average amount of food waste per week per household is between 8 to 10 lbs, resulting in 200-250 tons of food waste per week across 50,000 households, 80% of which is estimated to end up in the solid waste stream as great cost to the City;
WHEREAS, New Haven has one community composting facility that is run by Peels and Wheels Composting that manages the food waste of 250 households including some offices, small restaurants and a school;
WHEREAS, the proposed pilot composting project in partnership with Gather New Haven (formerly New Haven Land Trust/New Haven Farms) and Peels and Wheels Composting can demonstrate the feasibility of a community composting solution that could then be scaled to the whole city to reduce solid waste costs and meet the needs of a growing food movement involving urban farms, community gardens, park gardens, home farms and house gardens;
WHEREAS, the goal of the project is to capture a percentage of the organic waste from the home waste stream to make high quality compost to support growing food, create jobs, save municipal funds, and reduce environmental pollution; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Alders supports the City’s efforts to reduce the waste stream, save municipal resources, and support community farms and gardens;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board of Alders of the City of New Haven authorizes the Mayor of the City of New Haven to apply for funds offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) Project, Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-NRCS-NHQ-CCFWR-20-NOFO0001018, in the amount of $90,000 and to accept such funds, if offered, and to execute all documents and contracts as necessary.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Board of Alders of the City of New Haven authorizes the Mayor of the City of New Haven to extend the award and/or approve no cost amendments of the award.