For many years, the New Haven landfill served a single purpose. Trucks brought waste; it would fill; and after that, the site would be capped and closed.<\/p>\n
Few closed disposal sites ever find a new purpose. Once they stop accepting garbage, they often sit unused<\/strong> because building on them can be difficult.<\/p>\n However, today the former disposal site generates electricity rather than receiving trash.<\/p>\n The site now generates enough electricity for about 200 homes<\/strong> each year while also bringing in new revenue for the city of New Haven.<\/p>\n Taken together, these transformations raise an obvious question about the site’s future.<\/p>\n The New Haven landfill ceased accepting garbage over twenty-two years ago. As a result, all that remains is a capped site<\/strong> that can no longer fulfill its original purpose. Developing productive purposes for former landfills is usually difficult.<\/p>\n Construction opportunities may be restricted, and cities must work around conditions created by decades of waste disposal. Eventually, New Haven municipal officials began looking for a practical purpose for the property. The city partnered with Greenskies Clean Energy to see if the site could be used again.<\/p>\n The partnership provided benefits beyond the solar project itself<\/strong>. Under a 20-year lease agreement, Greenskies agreed to pay the City of New Haven $72,000 annually to use the site.<\/span><\/p>\n This amounts to approximately $6,000 per month, paid by Greenskies to the city, for land that is no longer permitted to accept waste.<\/p>\n The lease also provided a significant long-term financial benefit for the city<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The site was no longer generating value after it closed.<\/p>\n Instead of being abandoned and idled, the capped landfill is now generating both revenue and fulfilling a new function<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The landfill project was only one part of a broader effort across the city. It became part of New Haven’s push to expand local renewable-energy projects. The city worked with Greenskies<\/a> Clean Energy on several renewable-energy projects before this project was completed.<\/p>\n Similar efforts were already being planned elsewhere in the city. The initiative fit into a broader citywide renewable-energy strategy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They believed that more solar power would make future energy costs<\/a> more predictable while helping the city reduce carbon emissions.<\/p>\n Rather than allowing the capped property to sit unused, the city found a way to put<\/strong> the site back to use.<\/p>\n The approach also demonstrated another use for previously closed disposal sites.<\/p>\n The landfill now produces electricity from more than 1,900 solar panels installed on the site<\/strong>. Following completion of the solar installation, the facility began operation on July 9, 2026. Electricity generated there is now entering the local power supply.<\/p>\n According to city officials, the installation will generate enough electricity to supply approximately 200 homes<\/a> for a full calendar year. Greenskies operates the array and sells the electricity to United Illuminating, which manages the city’s power system.<\/p>\n The installation was completed during what was described as “a tough winter.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Construction continued despite challenging conditions.<\/p>\n Turning the former landfill into a source of electricity took less than one year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The landfill remains permanently closed even though it now serves a new purpose.<\/p>\n What changed was how the site could be used<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The project may also influence what happens at similar closed landfill sites<\/a> in the future. Municipal officials are currently exploring renewable-energy projects at the former disposal site. Another cluster of solar panels is being considered for installation at the landfill.<\/p>\n Questions have arisen regarding how many other disposal sites could be converted<\/a> into renewable-energy projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many years, the New Haven landfill served a single purpose. Trucks brought waste; it would fill; and after that, the site would be capped and closed. Few closed disposal sites ever find a new purpose. Once they stop accepting garbage, they often sit unused because building on them can be difficult. However, today the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":31562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"landfill,generating,electricity","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"A Connecticut landfill stopped accepting trash 22 years ago. Today it generates enough electricity for 200 homes and earns $6,000 every single month.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The city needed a new use for the site<\/h2>\n
The landfill project was not the only one<\/h2>\n
More than 1,900 solar panels now cover the site<\/h2>\n
What could happen to other closed landfills?<\/h3>\n