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
2500
2000
T rash
1500
Paper
1000
Commigle
500
0
Fy04
Fy06
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:


MA suburbs w/ curbside trash and
recycling:



Gardner, Worcester
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




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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
3000
Non PAYT
2500
2000
PAYT
lbs of Trash
1500
lbs of Recycling
1000
500
N
YL
ST
O
BO
ST
W
E
RT
H
O
N
M
IL
LV
IL
LE
N
BO
EN
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B
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UG
RG
H
0
LU
Pound per participating Households
PAYT Working in Curbside Communities
Non-PAYT vs. PAYT
curbside communities
2500
Non PAYT
PAYT
1500
Lbs of Trash
Lbs of Recycling
1000
500
kf
ie
ld
ro
o
B
E.
M
ay
n
ar
d
h
or
th
bo
ro
g
N
ur
g
Lu
ne
nb
ns
en
d
To
w
h
or
ou
g
Ty
ng
sb
sb
ur
y
0
Sh
re
w
Pound per hh per year
2000
Solid Waste System Program
CURRENT

Trash and Recycling
Pay As You Throw

Collection Costs$243,000
 Disposal Costs$76 * 2118 tons=
$160,968


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Recycling Rate 23%
$404,000 on the tax
base
Trash and Recycling


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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 selfsupporting; savings from
reduced disposal costs
more than cover the added
overhead.
Effective incentive to
reduce waste
Environmentally beneficial
and sustainable program



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Change is always a
challenge.
Cost of bags/tags is
a new expense
May be a hardship
for some lowincome residents
Fees not deductible
from federal taxes
If you consider this unfair
Smith Trash Bill - $200/year
Jones Trash Bill - $200/year
You need to consider PAYT
Need more information?

Irene Congdon (Mass DEP Municipal
Assistance Coordinator-Central Region)
Tel: (978) 597-9191
 Email: [email protected]

Or visit www.mass.gov/dep and
www.epa.gov.
What is in our trash?
Other
15%
Glass
7%
Metal
8%
Food Waste
7%
Plastics
9%
Paper
38%
Yard Waste
16%
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?

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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.