Pay As You Throw – An Incentive Based System Town of West Boylston, MA

Overview DEP Grant What is PAYT?

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.

West Boylston trash and recycling #’s

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

Curbside PAYT

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 Non PAYT

Non-PAYT vs. PAYT curbside communities Non PAYT PAYT

Solid Waste System Program CURRENT  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 the Pros 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) Or visit and

What is in our trash?

Mass Waste Ban Law  Massachusetts Waste Ban Law: The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) “waste ban” regulations at 310 CMR  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.