Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Identifying, Quantifying, and Mapping Food Residuals from Connecticut Businesses and Institutions

An Organics Recycling Planning Tool Food Scrap Generator Map

The Connecticut DEEP has identified the need to capture institutional and commercial food scrap in order to increase recycling rates and to avoid the need for expanded waste incineration and disposal.

Toward this end, the Department funded a project in 2001 that identified, quantified, and mapped all of the large-scale commercial and institutional locations in Connecticut where potentially recyclable food scrap is generated, and matched those sources against the state's transportation network and current composting infrastructure. In the spring of 2012, this project was updated with the help of the EPA Region 1 using 2011 data.  An entrepreneur, composter, hauler or waste manager can not only see where food generators are located, but can use the information to line-up new accounts, select the right collection vehicles, design efficient transportation routes, and choose logical locations to site new organics recycling facilities.  Both the original and updated sets of maps, data, and reports are available on this webpage.

In 2018, the US EPA released a country-wide Excess Food Opportunities Map that showed this same data, but for the entire country. This Map was again updated with 2023 data, which can now be found below on this page.

Updated 2023 Data & Map  Updated 2011 Data, Report & Map Original 2001 Data, Report & Maps
Updated 2023 Mapping Project

In 2023, The US EPA released a new edition of the Excess Food Opportunities Map. This includes a new dataset, from which excel files for Connecticut-specific data has been pulled below:

The methodologies used to calculate food scrap generation estimates are explained in the EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Map 3.0 – Technical Methodology document.

An updated Connecticut-specific interactive map is in development, and in the meantime a nation-wide map is available through the EPA here. Alongside the new map release, the EPA has put together a user guide on how to navigate their map, which can be found here. For more general information about this data/map, visit the EPA’s Excess Food Opportunities Press Release.

Updated 2011 Mapping Project

This project updates the database and maps used in the original 2001 mapping study.  The work was completed in conjunction with EPA Region 1 (New England).

Report

Explains the methods used to analyze, compare, add, combine, and organize the data as well as describes the sources for the data, its parameters, validation and mapping.

Database

An Excel spreadsheet containing an updated and expanded list of food scrap generators and permitted food residual recycling facilities.  It includes more generator types than the original database and contains over 3,300 individual businesses and institutions.  Data was acquired by EPA during 2011.  Individual generator data will not be updated on any regular schedule, however, a statewide update may occur periodically as resources allow. Locations of food residual composting and anaerobic digestion facilities will be added to the database and map as they receive appropriate permits from DEEP.

Shapefiles

GIS data for the food residual generators contained in the database is available on our GIS Data Download web page.  Find it under the "Recycling & Composting" category in the drop-down menu.

Interactive GIS Map

This is an interactive GIS map which is based on data from the afore-mentioned database. It contains layers for displaying generator types (i.e. grocers, prisons, schools, etc.), and displays information about each generator and food scrap recycling facility located on the map.  Using the map is self explanatory.  Choose features along the top of the map to display different layers, view the legend, change the base map or read details about the map data.   NOTE:  This map is best viewed using the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers.

Original 2001 Mapping Project

This research was conducted for the Department through the consulting services of Draper/Lennon, Inc.  It identified over 1,300 businesses and institutions that generate food scrap in Connecticut and estimated food scrap generation rates for most sectors. The project was one of the first in the country to use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to help promote organics recycling.  Called 'density mapping', the project visually illustrates all areas in the state where there are concentrations of generators producing similar types of food scrap.

Report

Appendix A: Database of All Generators Included in the Study

  • Excel Format  (Requires Microsoft Excel to view)
  • Access Format  ( Requires Microsoft Access to view) - NOTE: The Access file has been zipped for downloading. After downloading the ".zip" file in Windows, you may use a product such as WinZip® or PKZIP® to access ("unzip") the archive's contents.  Some operating systems, such as Windows XP, may also have a .zip utility that allows you to open compressed files.

Maps

Content Last Updated June 2024

Composting & Organics Recycling  |  Reduce/Reuse/Recycle