“We waste too much food as a society,” Blumenthal said during his visit to Blue Earth, which is based out of an old industrial complex in Hartford’s North Meadows section. “Forty percent of all food is wasted. The whole idea (of the pilot program funding) is to provide the resources to really get this thing going.”

Dining Services will continue to use anaerobic digestion processing methods to help deal with food waste more efficiently on campus, according to Dining Services project manager Mike O’Day.

Now Galligan is planning a possible bus trip to Quantum Biopower, to ramp up interest in biorecycling. Galligan is hoping the Southington-based company will open an east-of-the-river facility in South Windsor. The company opened a $14 million organic waste “anaerobic digestion” plant in Southington last year.