Population:
Type of Community:
Type of Program:
Program Start Date:
We argued that the
costs for producing
wastes should be
borne by the user
and the costs of
recycling, because of
its social and
environmental
benefits, should be
borne by the city.
EPA530-F-97-007b
PAY- AS- YOU-THROW SUCCESS STORIES
Dover, New Hampshire
26,000
Rural
Bag and Tag
October 1991
Pay-as-you-thmw has proven to be
a very effective means of managing
Dover's solid waste,
Getting Started: Why Pay-As-You-Throw?
The City of Dover is a community of
approximately 26,000 people on New
Hampshire's seacoast. Our municipal landfill
was closed in 1979, and at that time the city
entered into a relationship with a private
hauler for collection and disposal at a pri-
vately owned and operated landfill. The city
collected approximately 24,000 tons of trash
each year, of which approximately 11,000
tons were residential refuse.
Before 1989, Dover had no recycling pro-
gram. Any and all trash residents wished
to discard was left at the curb, and 31/2
truck routes were needed to collect the
refuse daily. The cost of refuse collection
and disposal was escalating rapidly.
Responding to citizen pressure, the
Dover city council
created an ad
hoc committee
on recycling in
the fall of 1989.
The committee,
chaired by Gary
Gilmore, city coun-
cilor, consisted of
eight interested res-
idents and a council
representative. The
committee reported
back to the council 4 months later with 10
recommendations.
The committee urged the immediate estab-
lishment of a drop-off recycling center
designed to collect a wide range of materials.
The recycling center opened in May 1990. It
quickly became very popular and a source of
civic pride.
The recycling center was run initially as an
all-volunteer effort. After a few months, the
city hired a solid waste coordinator, who
began working in conjunction with the ad
hoc committee and several city councilors
to urge the establishment of
curbside recycling
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and the bag and tag program, which
was then unknown in northern New
England.
Overcoming Public Dissent
The three public meetings we held
were filled with heated vocal dissent.
However, we soon convinced the public
to accept these programs with a couple
of basic premises. The first premise was
that recyclable materials are a commod-
ity, and anything that is disposed of in
the landfill is waste. We argued that the
costs for producing wastes should be
borne by the user and that the costs of
recycling, because of its social and envi-
ronmental benefits, should be borne by
the city.
In September 1991, the city began curb-
side collection of recyclables, and a
month later the bag and tag program
was implemented. In conjunction with
the establishment of these programs,
the city council created a Citizen's Solid
Waste Advisory Committee responsible
for overseeing these programs.
Since the program was initiated we
have had annual public meetings and
have raised the price once. We have
not had any significant public dissent at
any meetings since the program's incep-
tion. Overall, the program has been
well received by the community and has
proven to be a very effective means of
managing Dover's solid waste.
How Does It Work?
The city no longer provides for the col-
lection and disposal of private dump-
sters. Commercial generators pay the
fees associated with the collection and
disposal. For the residents, payment of
the collection and disposal of wastes is
accomplished through the purchase of
bags and/or adhesive tags.
A special revenue fund was established
to pay for the collection, disposal, and
administrative costs associated with our
residential solid waste. The fees generat-
ed by the sale of the bags and tags go
into this fund as revenue. The goal is to
maintain a neutral fund balance that can
sustain the program, but not to build a
large balance.
Success: Saving Money and
Reducing Waste
As mentioned earlier, Dover used to
produce approximately 11,000 tons per
year of residential solid waste. Last year,
we produced approximately 3,900 tons.
In 1990 our budget for solid waste was
approximately $1.2 million. Next year's
budget (including trash and recycling) is
approximately $878,000. Our current
recycling rate is well over 50 percent
for our residential waste stream—
despite it being strictly voluntary.
Dover's success story was compiled by Gary Gilmore, City Councilor, and Carl Quiram,
P.E., Environmental Projects Manager, (603) 743-6094.
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