Plainfield Trash Facts

The facts on the proposed trash plant
Plainfield, Connecticut

Status State permit applications filed. No public comment window has opened yet. Tell the Siting Council →
A quiet two-lane rural residential road with open fields, bare autumn trees and modest farmhouses under an overcast sky in eastern Connecticut.
Illustrative

The Plainfield Trash Plant, in Plain Facts

A company called SMART Technology Systems has applied to the state to build a waste-to-energy gasification plant on 81 acres off Routes 12 and 14, in a residential Plainfield neighborhood. Here is what is proposed, where it stands, and how to be heard.

1,800
tons of trash a day, trucked in1
100+
heavy truck trips a day, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.2
81
acres, in a residential zone off Routes 12 & 141
1,148–125
how Plainfield voted against it (non-binding)2
Tell the Siting Council See the full facts

What is proposed

What Is Actually Proposed

Every figure below links to its original source. Where the developer and independent reporting differ, both numbers are shown.

  • The plant would be built by SMART Technology Systems, a partnership of O&G Industries and Advanced Waste Technologies International.2
  • The site is about 81 acres at Norwich Road and Black Hill Road, between Routes 12 and 14, in a residential zone.1
  • It would process 1,800 tons of trash a day. The developer’s own materials describe up to 468,000 tons a year.13
  • It would run more than 100 heavy garbage-truck trips a day, roughly 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.2
  • It would generate about 45 megawatts of electricity.1
  • Gasification is not the same as old-style incineration, but with mixed plastic waste its emissions can resemble incineration, according to a review by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.4
  • By the developer’s own timeline, the plant would not open before 2028.3

Where it stands

Where the Proposal Stands Right Now

The plant is a live proposal. It has not been approved, and it has not been cancelled. Here is exactly what has and has not been filed.

Filed / underway

  • DEEP air permit application5
  • DEEP solid waste management plan5
  • Environmental justice public participation plan on file with DEEP7

Not yet filed

  • No application before the Connecticut Siting Council6
  • No public comment window has opened yet5
  • Town building, stormwater and wastewater permits5

Plainfield voted 1,148 to 125 against the plant. That vote was non-binding: the state, not the town, decides.2

In 2025 the state legislature passed a bill that would have let towns challenge permits like this by referendum. The Governor vetoed it in July 2025.8

How to be heard

How to Be Heard

There is no online form. The way to be counted is to contact the state directly, in your own words. Individual letters carry more weight than form letters.

Connecticut Siting Council
[email protected] Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 060519
Connecticut DEEP
[email protected] Office of Adjudications, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 0610610
Your state legislators
cga.ct.gov Find your representative and senator by address11

What to say

Keep it short and specific. Say you are a Plainfield resident. Name your street. Give one concern in your own words: the truck traffic, the groundwater, a second gasification plant in one town, or whether the state has shown this plant is even needed.

A formal 30-day public comment window has not opened yet. When it does, a petition signed by 25 residents can force a full public hearing. Comments placed on the record now still count. Check back here for when the window opens.5

Sources

Where These Facts Come From

  1. Foundation for Fair Contracting of CT, “Plainfield opposing plans for a trash to energy plant in a residential zone” (81 acres, residential zone, 1,800 tons/day, ~45 MW). ffcct.org
  2. Hartford Courant via Government Technology, “Connecticut Residents Object to Plans for High-Tech Trash Plant” (referendum 1,148–125 non-binding; developer partnership; joint town-committee letter on 100+ trucks 6 a.m.–5 p.m.). govtech.com
  3. Norwich Bulletin via Yahoo News, “Plant to convert trash to gas, electricity to be pitched in Plainfield” (468,000 tons/year; earliest operation ~2028). yahoo.com
  4. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), “Waste Gasification and Pyrolysis: High Risk, Low Yield Processes” (emissions profile with mixed waste). no-burn.org (PDF)
  5. Norwich Bulletin via AOL, “Here’s the status of the proposed trash-to-energy plant in Plainfield” (DEEP air and solid waste applications filed; no Notice of Tentative Determination / comment window; town permits not yet filed). aol.com
  6. Connecticut Siting Council, Pending Matters (no SMART / O&G / Plainfield gasification docket listed). portal.ct.gov/CSC
  7. CT DEEP, Environmental Justice Public Participation Plan on file for SMART Technology Systems, Norwich Road / Black Hill Road, Plainfield. portal.ct.gov (PDF)
  8. CT Mirror, “Lamont finishes review of 2025 bills with a veto” (HB 7004 referendum-challenge bill vetoed, July 8, 2025). ctmirror.org
  9. Connecticut Siting Council, Contact (email and mailing address). portal.ct.gov/csc
  10. CT DEEP, Office of Adjudications, intervening in the hearing process (email and mailing address). portal.ct.gov/deep
  11. Connecticut General Assembly, find your legislators. cga.ct.gov