Middletown — After about a dozen residents expressed dissatisfaction Tuesday night with the city's new compulsory food waste diversion program, Common Council members will take up the issue at their December meeting.

The Pay-As-You-Throw initiative, which became a mandatory one Nov. 1 only for customers of the sanitation district, does not affect households that pay for private trash hauling.

The goal is to move from a flat fee for sanitation services to one where customers only pay for trash that they generate, Mayor Ben Florsheim said at the outset of Tuesday's Sanitary District Disposal Commission meeting.

In that way, it's similar to utility payments, he added.

Ever since the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority in Hartford closed in July 2022, the state has been experiencing a waste crisis, resulting in a high percentage of Connecticut's trash being shipped to other areas of the country.

Commission members heard a series of complaints and other feedback about the new process, which requires customers to purchase special bags in two colors: orange for trash and green for food and plant waste.

They cost more than traditional trash bags, but the savings works out in the end because the average household is given a $120 annual discount on their bill, Public Works Director Chris Holden said earlier Tuesday.

"While it seems to a lot of people that it's a pain in the neck ... this is a revolutionary program," former Councilman Ed McKeon said during public session.

"This puts Middletown at the forefront of all the communities in the state, and many communities in the United States in terms of really addressing a program that's not just about what goes out at your curb," but affects future generations, he said.

"We're living in a world where there's no place left to put trash," McKeon added. "This is a program that begins to address that problem."

Jody Dumeer told commissioners that she's been very vigilant about complying with the guidelines. Every week, she places her filled orange and green bags in the cart and rolls it to the curb.

A couple weeks back, Dumeer added, she received a note that said staff found a standard bag in her can. Dumeer called the office to say that she hadn't done anything wrong, and that someone must have put some trash in her receptacle before it was picked up.

She was worried about having a "black mark against me."

Her argument was that she shouldn't have to pay a fine for something that's out of her control, Dumeer said.

Linda Latronica, a landlord who lives in her multifamily home, said that she had received the same notice, and had a similar complaint. After getting it, Latronica texted all of her tenants, but no one had placed the wrong bag in the cart.

"Not only did I do that, but I went back to my cameras on my house to watch every person ... to see if anyone had a white garbage bag, and none of them did. ... If I didn't cause the crime, I'm not going to pay the fine," Latronica said.

The pilot portion of the program was funded by a $350,000 state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Sustainable Materials Management grant.

During the trial portion, the city distributed a year's worth of free bags to each household: $50 worth of 8-gallon bags for food scraps, and 15-gallon bags for garbage.

Now, households are required to purchase the bags, which are available through local retailers, such as Price Chopper, Walgreens and Reboot Eco.

Orange waste bags come in three sizes: 33-gallon bags for $1.65 each, 15-gallon bags, $1.00 each, and 8-gallon bags, 65 cents each. Green food scrap bags are less expensive: 8-gallon bags cost 25 cents and 4-gallon bags cost 15 cents apiece.

The average home uses between one and two bags a week, Holden said.

Another woman at the meeting, identified only as Kinsey, said that she only recently learned about Pay-As-You Throw. "Composting is a great idea, and I'm not opposed to recycling and doing what I can to impact my footprint on this earth, it's just not something that's always feasible for someone," she said.

The Johnson Street transfer station has limited hours, 7 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., which makes going there impossible with her work schedule. "The hours of that are honestly laughable," Kinsey added.

"It is a different way of paying for trash, but towns that have this program have seen their trash cut in half," Recycling Coordinator Kim O'Rourke said earlier Tuesday. "If customers don't use the bag, they are not paying part of their bill. That's why they are so expensive, and are not the same as a typical trash bag."

The city is charged about $100 per ton for garbage disposal. That is expected to double in the next four years, O'Rourke added.

"It's been done in many communities across the Northeast," Holden said before the meeting. "There's well over 100 in Massachusetts, and all over New England. They've seen a dramatic decrease in solid waste generation, by about 50 percent.

"It really makes a difference. It brings trash to the front of your mind," he added, and causes consumers to think about what can be recycled rather than placed in the refuse stream.

Presently, city staff periodically check trash bins to gauge participation, but are not giving fines for noncompliance, Holden said.

Newly elected Council President Gene Nocera said that city leaders not yet considered the fine structure, let alone approve fees.

"There are hiccups we need to work out, and we're listening," Nocera explained, adding that while officials support the sustainability program, they will be proposing a resolution at their Dec. 4 meeting that would supply free bags to customers for 90 days, as well as other measures.

For more information, visit reducethetrashct.com/middletown.