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Connecticut Biosolids

State Data

Confidence in data for this state:

MODERATE

2018 data unless noted.

Definitions

Terms used on this website and in data sets are defined & discussed here.

State Statistics Dashboard

State Summary

● Almost all wastewater solids produced in Connecticut are incinerated. The major publicly-owned sewage sludge incineration (SSI) facilities are at Hartford, Mattabassett (in Cromwell), and New Haven. They take in some wastewater solids and septage from other communities. The two private SSI facilities – at Naugatuck and Waterbury – take in solids from many CT communities, as well as solids from MA and other neighboring states. Some CT solids go out of state to MA, RI, and NJ for incineration. Most of the solids incinerated are thickened, not dewatered.

● A few communities send solids to landfills.

● Two water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) – Stamford and Fairfield – produce Class A EQ products: heat-dried fertilizer and compost, respectively. The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) generally precludes in-state use of CT biosolids, so most of these biosolids go out of state. However, out-of-state EQ products are used some in CT, including at some northwest CT farms, with some oversight by the CT Department of Agriculture.

● Because of the state’s reliance on incineration, CT is the only state with no formal biosolids recycling regulations or regulatory program.

● The transport and disposal of wastewater solids in the Northeast is driven by strict and divergent regulatory environments in different states, companies competing for contracts to manage solids, and limits on available outlets. Since the mid-2010s, when several incinerators in the region closed (e.g. West Haven, CT), the capacity for managing solids has been reduced. Thus, in 2018, the market for end use and disposal in the Northeast was seeing price increases, with WRRFs scrambling, at times, to find a place to go with their solids. In the early 2020s, reactions to PFAS regulation and legislation is creating even greater uncertainty, further reductions in available capacity (e.g. landfills taking in less wet waste), and higher prices for wastewater solids management in CT and the region. Some prices for solids disposal are $130 per wet U.S. ton or more (~$650/dry metric ton), and WRRF biosolids managers are worried.