Old Lyme – The town is joining a growing list of municipalities opting out of their contracts with a beleaguered trash-to-energy plant in Hartford.

The Board of Selectmen voted Friday to switch from the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) to the Plainville-based Connecticut Waste Processing Materials (CWPM) to dispose of the town's roughly 4,600 tons of trash per year.

First Selectman Tim Griswold said the town will pay CWPM approximately $349,000 in the upcoming fiscal year, a savings of about $17,000 compared to MIRA's projected rates. But he said the implications could become more pronounced in future years if estimates hold true, with MIRA rates $73,000 higher than the private provider three years from now.

MIRA's costs are based on a flat $111-per-ton rate in the upcoming fiscal year, including recycling. CWPM charges $90 per ton for solid waste and $40 for recycling.

Griswold said recycling counts for about one-third of the town's trash.

CWPM currently is the town's trash and recycling pickup provider, hauling the refuse from local curbs to a transfer station in Essex. From there, the garbage is picked up by MIRA to be burned in Hartford.

But MIRA's aging plant is set to shut down as early as July. Griswold said the quasi-public collaborative, which plans to truck much of the trash out of the state, is relying on its reserves to subsidize cost increases in an attempt to hang onto its roughly 50 members.

According to media reports, the tactic failed in almost a dozen municipalities so far. Connecticut Public Radio reported Bloomfield, East Hampton, Ellington, Hartford, Naugatuck, Thomaston, Watertown, Manchester and Wethersfield have announced they will leave the group. The Republican-American said Torrington is out and the Journal Inquirer reported Glastonbury's imminent departure.

The newly approved, five-year contract means CWPM will take trash to its New London facility instead of Essex. Griswold said he was told the trash will be incinerated in the area as opposed to being hauled out of state.

The company is owned by Jason Manafort, who owns property near the beach in town.

The cost of recycling going forward will be influenced by how much of it ends up being handled as regular waste because customers don't follow recycling rules, according to the first selectman.

There are no plastic bags allowed in recycling bins, the company said on its website. All recylable items should be empty, rinsed, clean and open and that nothing should be shredded, boxed, bagged or bundled.

"If they see a whole bunch of recycling in plastic bags, the whole thing is rejected and it's dumped as garbage," Griswold said.

The first selectmen said he has a "soft spot" for MIRA after having served on the board of its predecessor, the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

"I respect the people there but I think the situation's pretty untenable and I think we have to do what's best for Old Lyme," he told selectmen before they voted unanimously to approve the new contract.

e.regan@theday.com