Food-scrap recycler opens New Hartford location

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. — CNY Green Bucket Project on Thursday celebrated the opening of a new location at 4340 Middle Settlement Road in New Hartford after four years of doing business in the area.

Established in March 2018, CNY Green Bucket Project aims to reduce the amount of residential food scraps in landfills and says it is the only local residential food-scrap collection service in the area. Since its inception, the organization has diverted more than 87,000 pounds of food scraps from landfills.

CNY Green Bucket Project got its start as a hobby for local teacher Melissa Shupp, but quickly took off. It became a full-time business in the fall of 2021 and has more than doubled in size since then. Currently, CNY Green Bucket Project has more than 125 clients, with about 50 of them having been on board since the beginning.

Food scraps are hauled to Oneida Herkimer Solid Waste Authority to the Food to Energy program, where the scraps are broken down in less than two weeks. During the process, 100 percent of the methane produced is captured and converted into clean energy.

CNY Green Bucket Project now serves Clinton, Utica, New Hartford, and some surrounding areas. For those who live out of the area, it has a limited amount of swap-out service spots at its New Hartford location.

CNY Green Bucket Project held a ribbon-cutting event on Thursday.