Cut Trash in Half Asheville

Cut Trash in Half AshevilleOverview

August 2014

Copyright © 2014 WasteZero2

Pay-as-You-Throw Overview

Immediate and long-term revenue and cost savings

• $2.7 million program net impact in 1 year

• $30.4 million program net impact over 10 years

Profound environmental impact• Significant reductions in greenhouse gases

and energy use


The Mission

Cut trash in half

in the USA

• An environmental and financial nightmare for cities and towns

• A broken system that encourages waste and drains taxpayer resources


More Trash, Fewer Landfills

19901992

19941996

19982000

20022004

20062008

20102012

20142016

20182020

400

425

450

475

500

525

550

575

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

Source: US EPA, Municipal Solid Waste: Facts and Fig-ures

Municipal Solid Waste (Billions of Pounds)

Number of Active MSW Landfills


Environmental Dangers

Trash trucks

Methane

Landfills

Leachate

Incinerators

Dioxins


Natural Resources

BTUs/ Energy

Carbon Emissions

Paper• 59 billion lbs.• 500 million

trees

• 3.5 quadrillion BTUs (5% of total US energy consumption)• Enough energy to power 25% US homes for an entire year• Energy equivalent of 26 billion gallons of gasoline

• 275 million metric tons of carbon dioxide• Equivalent of emissions from 1 in every 5 cars in the US• Require 225 million acres of forest to sequester this much

(more than all of the US national forests combined)

Plastic• 63 billion lbs.• 513 million

barrels of oil

Aluminum• 6 billion lbs.• 837 billion cans

Massive Wasted Resources

Every Year


Trash Is America’s $384 Billion Problem

TOTAL: $384 Billion

MSW Management Expenses

$100 Billion

Energy Opportunity Cost

$100 Billion

+

Avoidable Costs

$200 Billion

Recycling Jobs Payroll

$34 Billion

Remanufacturing Revenue

$100 Billion+

$184 Billion

+

Value of Materials

$50 Billion

Unrealized Revenue

Every Year


An Incentive to Waste?

The fact that garbage is an unmetered utility leads toavoidable waste of financial and environmental resources.

Solid waste is the only utility residents do not pay for based on actual use.

Electricity Gas

WaterTrash

Metered Unmetered


The Power of Pay-as-You-ThrowCurrent Approach

With Bag-Based Pay-As-You-Throw

Solid waste and recycling fees or General Fund dollars

Residents purchase theirown bags (~$0.30 each)

All trash bags are collected curbside or at drop-off

centers

City may reduce fees or reallocate General Fund

dollars for disposal/collection

Residents purchase municipality-specific bags

at local retail stores(typically $2/bag) to cover

true cost of city service

Only pay-as-you-throw bags are collected

curbside or at drop-off centers

Recycling is optional, but not incentivized

Behavior changes: waste is reduced

and recycling increases

EasyConvenient Effective

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=FS9ukf3hFSOSfM&tbnid=s5ZzoIsCG_FRxM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2012/09/mayor-announces-expansion-of-residential-recycling/&ei=fRjCUfirIZWs4AOX2IDYCA&bvm=bv.48175248,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNGvp4grUzmJgHFCMWBvuKfFMzGUUw&ust=1371761047762095

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=FS9ukf3hFSOSfM&tbnid=s5ZzoIsCG_FRxM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2012/09/mayor-announces-expansion-of-residential-recycling/&ei=fRjCUfirIZWs4AOX2IDYCA&bvm=bv.48175248,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNGvp4grUzmJgHFCMWBvuKfFMzGUUw&ust=1371761047762095


True Waste Reduction

0

250

500

750

1000

12501,100 lbs.

900 lbs.

500 lbs.or less

Annual Pounds per Capita of US Household Solid Waste Disposed


True Waste Reduction

MALDEN, MASS.52% DECLINE IN SOLID WASTE OVER 5

YEARS

PLYMOUTH, MASS.44% DECLINE IN SOLID WASTE IN 1

YEAR

DARTMOUTH, MASS.59% DECLINE IN SOLID WASTE OVER 6

YEARS

SANFORD, MAINE41% DECLINE IN SOLID WASTE IN 3

MONTHS


Environmental ImpactAsheville’s Projected

Annual Greenhouse Gas Reduction With Bag-Based PAYT

Equivalent to:Removing 3,300passenger vehicles from the road annually

or

Reducing gasoline consumption by1,894,000gallons

17,000 tons MTCO2e

Asheville’s ProjectedAnnual Reduction in Energy Use

With Bag-Based PAYTEquivalent to:

Powering1,300Asheville residences annually

or

Installing17,000rooftop solar panel arrays

141,000MBTUs


Cash Set fee in cash for each bag disposed of at a convenience center

Meters trash based on use, but operationally inefficient and prone to abuse, and does not work with curbside collection

Variable-Rate Carts

Choice of different-sized carts, with larger carts costing more and smaller ones costing less

Low burden on residents, but does not drive significant behavior change (so not a significant driver of waste reduction)

OverflowFlat fee for everything that fits into a certain size cart, and then extra costs (usually by the bag) for anything that does not fit into the cart

Offers most people little incentive to reduce waste

Stickers/Tags

Pay by the bag by affixing a pre-paid tag or sticker to each bag of trash

Meters trash based on use, but difficult to enforce and does not work with curbside collection

Bags Pay by the bag with specialized bags approved by the municipality

Maximizes waste reduction (average 44% decrease) due to strong incentives and easy enforcement

The Different Kinds of Pay-as-You-Throw


Call to Action

Spread the WordTell Your Friends About Bag-Based Pay-as-You-ThrowTell Your Elected Officials You Support Bag-Based Pay-as-You-Throw

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