Connecticut lawmakers are sending a bill to the governor that restructures the state's largest regional trash authority and seeks to double the state's recycling rate.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office estimates more than $10 million in commodities are burned each year at waste-to-energy facilities, and municipalities could save $35 million annually if the recycling rate increased from 24.8 percent to 40 percent.
Malloy said the legislation, which passed the House Tuesday on a 144-0 vote, "will help make Connecticut a leader in recycling and innovative waste management." The bill already passed the Senate.
Under the bill, a new nonprofit council will consider redeveloping the Hartford trash-to-energy plant, owned by the financially strapped Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority. CRRA has been hit hard by depressed energy prices and considered closing the facility.
