United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
EPA530-F-96-028
April 1997
&EPA Pay-As-You-Throw
Throw Away Less and Save
You probably
know how
much you spend
per month on your
electricity and gas
utilities. But do
you know how
much you spend
on garbage?
Each time your city or town
sends a truck down your
street to pick up your trash,
it costs money. It costs
money even if you drop off your
trash at a local dump. Ultimately, you
pay for this service, usually through
your local taxes. And it's not likely
that you have much control over the
amount you pay, regardless of how
much garbage you create.
There is a dif-
ferent system,
t"T'*V*V y° however, under
which residents are
asked to pay for waste collec-
tion directly-based on the
amount of garbage they actually
generate. They're called "pay-as-
you-throw" programs, and nearly
2,000 communities across the
country have begun using them.
What is
pay-as-you-throw?
Pay-as-you-throw is a different
way of paying for waste col-
lection and disposal services.
In some pay-as-you-throw
communities, it works on a per-con-
tainer basis: households are charged
for each bag or can of waste they
generate. A few communities bill
residents based on the weight of
their trash. Either way, the system
motivates people to recycle more
and think about how to generate
less waste in the first place.
For community residents, however,
the most important advantage of
pay-as-you-throw may be the fair-
ness and greater control over costs
that it offers. Do you have neighbors
who never seem to recycle and
always leave out six or seven bags
of trash? While you may not have
thought about it,
right now t « •
you're • «
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helping them pay for that waste. Under pay-as-
you-throw, everyone pays only for what they
generate-so you won't have to subsidize your
neighbor's wastefulness any more. It's only fair.
With pay-as-you-throw, when you recycle and
prevent waste, you're rewarded
with a lower trash bill.
Because of these potential cost
savings, both you and your
neighbors will naturally want
to reduce the amount of waste
that you generate. And when
people reduce waste, that can
mean lower costs for your
community, since it costs less
to collect and dispose of
everyone's trash. This might
even free up funding for
other municipal services you
depend upon-like schools
and fire and police protection.
In addition, the pay-as-you-
throw incentive to put less
waste at the curb can make a
big environmental difference.
When people generate less
waste and recycle more, fewer
natural resources are used and
there is less pollution from
manufacturing. Valuable land-
fill space is conserved as well,
reducing the need to site new
facilities.
When people
generate less
waste and
recycle more,
fewer natural
are
used and there
is less pollution
solutions. Illegal dumping is a frequently raised
issue. While people often assume that illegal
dumping will increase once residents are asked
to pay for each container of waste they gener-
ate, most communities with pay-as-you-throw
have found this not to be the
case. This is especially true
when communities offer their
residents recycling, compost-
ing for yard trimmings, and
other programs that allow
individuals to reduce waste
legally. Others, particularly
lower-income residents, worry
about how much they will
have to pay. In many commu-
nities, however, coupon or
voucher programs are helping
to defray their expenses.
manufacturing.
What can I do?
Are there disadvantages
to pay-as-you-throw?
While there are potential barriers to a success-
ful program, communities with pay-as-you-
throw report that they have found effective
If you're interested in pay-as-
you-throw, talk to your town
planner or local elected rep-
resentatives! Ask them if
they know about pay-as-you-
throw and whether they
would consider using it in
your community. In addition,
if you want to learn more
about pay-as-you-throw, or
if your local town planner
is seeking specific tools to
help design and implement
pay-as-you-throw in your
community, EPA has developed a wide range
of products that can help. To find out more
about EPA's collection of community success
stories, program-planning tools, guidebooks,
and other products, call the Pay-as-you-throw
Helpline toll free at 888-EPA-PAYT.
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