New way to toss trash: PAYT

SHARON — The members of the Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee heard a presentation on a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) program at their monthly meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Mike LaPorte of WasteZero, a South Carolina company, gave details on how switching from the flat $70 sticker fee currently in place to a system where residents of the two towns would buy special garbage bags at local retail stores could increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of municipal solid waste trucked out of the transfer station.

Transfer station manager Brian Bartram, who said he supports a one-year trial of PAYT, demonstrated via a couple of videos how many recyclable materials wind up in the general garbage at the moment.

In one clip, a garbage truck pulls away from the hopper at the transfer station, and garbage falls to the ground. The sound of glass breaking is clearly audible, and in a freeze-frame shot several items that should be in the various recycling bins — cans, bottles, cardboard — are identified.

In another video demonstration, Bartram delves into two sample bags of garbage — one weighing seven and a half pounds, and one 11 and a quarter.

From the former, Bartram (wearing gloves) dug out 2 pounds of recyclables; from the latter, 1.9 pounds — plus a tomato he offered to Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee member Charlie Kelley, saying “This doesn’t look too bad.� (Kelley declined the offer.)

In the video clip, Bartram said 4 pounds of recyclables plucked from the garbage saves about 12 cents.

“But it will add up,� he said.

LaPorte, acknowledging that people sometimes see PAYT as a “bag tax,� said it is really a usage fee. Transfer station customers who do a better job of recycling buy and use fewer bags.

LaPorte says that of the 270 municipalities that use the WasteZero program, none has dropped out. And using data provided by Bartram, he said PAYT would reduce the transfer station’s current annual  tonnage from 3,233 tons to 2,004 tons. Per capita, that is a drop from 911 pounds to 565.

LaPorte’s minimum revenue  estimate is $202,038. “If everybody cooperates, you’ll probably see an average of something like $309,293.â€�

The transfer station is paid for through a combination of municipal taxes and fees paid by customers. Any reductions in costs are savings, therefore, for the taxpayers.

WasteZero provides bags in 14- and 30-gallon sizes. The company works with the municipalities to publicize the system, explain it, and get things rolling. WasteZero also deals with retailers in area towns.

LaPorte said that 87 percent of the revenue from bag sales is returned to the municipalities, and the minimum revenue figure mentioned above is guaranteed in the contract.

Bill Kelsey of Sharon wondered if retailers would want to get on board, noting that Sharon currently has no supermarket and that the bags, which cost the user $1 for the small version and $2 for the large, require shelf space without a markup for the store.

Salisbury Selectman Bob Riva countered by saying the last time this idea was floated, his business, Lindell’s Hardware in North Canaan, was willing to sell the bags just to generate foot traffic.

 LaPorte said in his experience retailers are willing to cooperate for that reason and out of a sense of civic duty.

He also told a story of a camera store owner calling and asking to be a bag outlet, just to get people into the struggling shop.

In an e-mail Bartram outlined what he believes are the benefits of PAYT:

“Equity — you pay based on how much you throw out. Instead of a ‘bottomless pit’ for garbage for the $70 sticker fee, there would be no sticker fee, substituting the per-bag fee.

Residents with smaller families will pay less than those with larger families; now, a single person pays the  same as a family of six.â€�

He compared waste disposal with unit-based utilities such as electricity or fuel oil —  “the more you use, the more you pay. But  it will be a personal decision that residents will actually make. Maybe we will think about what we are ‘trashing.’  

“Residents will control their own disposal costs. If you recycle, compost or change your purchasing habits, you will pay less than those who choose not to recycle/compost/change purchasing habits.

“Environment — fewer natural resources are used and landfilled (or, in Connecticut’s case, ash landfilling is reduced).â€� And with less incineration and trucking, there are fewer  greenhouse gas emissions, he added.

Notes: Batram gave the group a list of some 800 names between the two towns of people who have not purchased transfer station stickers and reminded residents that everyone must buy a sticker, even if they use a hauler and never go near the transfer station.

And he is working on a more polished series of video presentations, tentativelty titled “Trash Talk,� to be aired on CATV-6.