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Who Pays for Trash Disposal?We All Do!
Although many people don’t know it, trash collection and disposal, is paid through local property taxes and cost a few hundred $ each household.
What is Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT)?
PAYT is a waste reduction program
With PAYT, each household trash disposal cost is based on how much is thrown away
Households that recycle more and produce less trash pay less.
Similar in concept to paying for the heat, electricity, or a co-pay for medical insurance
How does it work?
Typically, households pay their taxes which covers the program’s fixed costs (collection costs).
Residents purchase the town’s PAYT plastic bags. These are sold for a nominal fee (usually $1- 2) at convenient community locations.
The price of these bags cover trash disposal costs.
PAYT Curbside Options
Basic service program- residents put out 1 bag, container for “free” paid in taxes- all others need to be in a PAYT bag
Basic service coupon program- residents receive a coupon to get their free bags at a local store and all bags on curb are PAYT bags.
All trash bags need to be in PAYT bags.
Recycling is free for all programs
As with all PAYT program- it is a Voluntary program
Where in MA Has PAYT Worked?
In 124 Massachusetts municipalities MA cities w/ curbside trash and recycling:
Gardner, Worcester MA suburbs w/ curbside trash and
recycling: Lunenburg, Plainville, Boxford, Maynard,
Northborough, Medway, Dighton MA communities w/ drop-off trash and
recycling programs Many programs have 10+ years
experience
PAYT is Working in Central Mass
Worcester Cut trash in Half North Brookfield reduced their waste by
20 % and increase recycling by 4% Lunenburg saved $100,000 in the first
year Ayer in the first few months saw a 53%
waste reduction Northborough experienced a 35% waste
reduction in the first 3 months, which is a savings of $75,000
Why does PAYT work?
Economically Smart – Each household is responsible for its trash and has a financial incentive to recycle.
Equitable - Those who produce less waste pay less.
Environmentally Sustainable – Conserves natural resources, energy and disposal capacity.
Every Ton of paper we recycle saves:
17 Trees that are 20 years old 4,200 kwh of energy (enough to power the average
home for 6 months)
7,000 gallons of water 664 quarts of oil 3 cubic yards of landfill space 84 lbs. of air pollutants 36 lbs. of water pollutants 176 lbs. of solid waste from raw wood
production
What are the $takes across the State?
In both commercial and residential sectors:
>1.5 million tons of paper/year is disposed each year
1 million tons of this can realistically be recovered
At tip fees of $75/ton , Massachusetts could save $75M/year on disposal
At $35/ton for Mixed Paper, Massachusetts
could recover $35M/year in commodity value
PAYT Working in Curbside Communities
0
500
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LUNENBURG
NORTHBO
ROUG
H
MIL
LVILLE
WEST B
OYLS
TON
Po
un
d p
er p
arti
cip
atin
g H
ou
seh
old
s
lbs of Trash
lbs of Recycling
PAYT
Non PAYT
Non-PAYT vs. PAYT curbside communities
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Shrew
sbury
Tyngs
borou
gh
Townse
nd
Lunen
burg
North
boro
gh
May
nard
E. Bro
okfie
ld
Po
un
d p
er
hh
pe
r y
ea
r
Lbs of Trash
Lbs of Recycling
Non PAYT
PAYT
Solid Waste System ProgramCURRENT
Trash and Recycling Collection Costs-
$243,000 Disposal Costs- $76 * 2118 tons=
$160,968
Recycling Rate 23% $404,000 on the tax
base
Pay As You Throw
Trash and Recycling Trash in PAYT bags Most program have a
Waste Reduction of 30% = disposal costs
Recycling Rate could be 40%
$207,000 on the tax base
Recycling works in Mass
Adding over $600 million into the state’s economy each year
Employing over 19,000 people.
By recycling over 6 million tons each year, we prevented the need to construct 16 new incinerators or landfills.
The amount of materials recycled saves enough energy to power 140,000 homes each year
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by almost 900,000 tons of carbon equivalent per year
Common Objections…
More illegal dumping?No. Experience in other
towns proves the illegal dumping can be avoided WITH:
Good education, Good recycling
options, Good enforcement
Summary of thePros and Cons of PAYT
Equitable way to fund trash and recycling services
Economically self-supporting; savings from reduced disposal costs more than cover the added overhead.
Effective incentive to reduce waste
Environmentally beneficial and sustainable program
Change is always a challenge.
Cost of bags/tags is a new expense
May be a hardship for some low-income residents
Fees not deductible from federal taxes
Jones Trash Bill - $200/yearSmith Trash Bill - $200/year
If you consider this unfair
You need to consider PAYT
Need more information?
Irene Congdon (Mass DEP Municipal Assistance Coordinator-Central Region)Tel: (978) 597-9191Email: Irene_Congdon1@yahoo.com
Or visit www.mass.gov/dep and www.epa.gov.
Mass Waste Ban Law
Massachusetts Waste Ban Law: The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) “waste ban” regulations at 310 CMR 19.017.
What is banned? Recyclable Paper: All paper, cardboard, and
paperboard products, Containers: glass, metal, plastic bottles, leaves & yard waste, Lead-acid batteries, white goods, whole tires, cathode ray tubes: televisions, computer
monitors.
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