Population:
Type of Community:
Type of Program:
Program Start Date:
Pay-as-you-throw
has helped us to
reach our recycling
goals—a real
challenge, since
there are six private
trash haulers that
work in Fort Collins.
EPA530-F-97-007J
PAY-AS-YOU-THROW SUCCESS STORIES
Fort Collins, Colorado
100,000
Urban
Varies
January 1996
Start planning for implementation at least
six months in advance. This means both
working with your private haulers and
educating the public,
Getting Started: Why Pay-As-You-Throw?
Fort Collins is located on the Front Range of
the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Last year
its population passed the 100,000 mark, but
the community still takes pride in a small-
town self-image, and residents are deter-
mined to manage growth well. The natural
environment is highly valued, and solid waste
reduction is a strong environmental program
in Fort Collins.
The city conducted outreach and sponsored
a recycling drop-off site for nearly 10 years,
but without a municipal trash collection ser-
vice, increased participation depended on
haulers' efforts. A 1991 ordinance required
haulers to provide curbside recycling, but
because they included this service as an addi-
tional cost, most customers were unwilling
to pay for the service. Construction of a
county recycling center in 1992 also had little
effect on residents' recycling levels.
The city council
adopted goals in
1994 to reduce the
total waste stream
by 20 percent by the
year 2000, despite
the city's growth, and
to reduce landfilled
waste by 20 percent.
A specific target was set for increasing par-
ticipation in curbside recycling by 80 to 90
percent. Reaching these goals has been
challenging, because six private trash haulers
work in Fort Collins, ranging from corporate
players like BFI and Waste Management to
locally run family operations that have been
in business for 40 years.
Disappointed in a slow rate of progress for
recycling, the city council adopted two ordi-
nances in May 1995 that apply to single-family
and duplex residences. The first ordinance
called for haulers to "bundle" costs for recy-
cling and provide curbside recycling to cus-
tomers upon request at no extra charge. It
became effective in October 1995. The sec-
ond ordinance called for volume-based rates
to be charged for solid waste starting
in January 1996.
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Lessons Learned
Start planning for implementation of the
rate structure change at least six
months in advance. We didn't start
working with the haulers until
September to implement the system in
January. Then, after meeting together
several times, the city agreed to amend
the ordinance to respond to haulers'
concerns about charging strictly by
volume, but this process was time-
consuming and difficult.
Make sure to publicize the changes to
remind the public and their elected offi-
cials about what will occur in the next 2
to 3 months. Use news articles, adver-
tisements, and haulers' billings.
Don't underestimate the difficulty peo-
ple will have understanding how new
trash collection rates work, and plan for
the extra work it creates for staff. Be
prepared for it to take 3, 6, or even 9
months for people to realize that they
can save money by generating less trash
with a PAYT system.
Expect private trash haulers to take the
opportunity to increase collection rates
at the same time the volume-based
rates take effect. The public assumed
the hike in collection rates was a result
of the ordinance. Haulers helped spread
the misunderstanding—it deflected criti-
cism from them!
Make sure the transition between billing
systems is smooth. Because we had
some program overlap, both our
haulers and the city staff got a new
round of calls from angry, confused
people who had received two different
bills. However, the city has been
adamant about reimbursing customers
for cans/bags of trash that they didn't
generate—the most important feature
of the system to reward people with
cost savings.
Success: Increased Recycling
Participation
As of July 1996, recycling has increased
to 79 percent participation in single-
family and duplex households, up from
53.5 percent the previous year. With
only 6 months' worth of data to analyze
trends, it is hard to specify what is hap-
pening with solid waste reduction goals,
but we have clearly found a way to
accomplish our goal for 80 to 90 per-
cent participation in curbside recycling.
Now that the residents of Fort Collins
are so much more conscious of
reducing their waste stream, they have
demanded opportunities to recycle new
materials, including cardboard, office
paper, and compostable items.
The bundling ordinance and PAYT
system have significantly increased
households' recycling efforts, so the
experience, although sometimes difficult,
was certainly worthwhile. Now that
we're 6 months into the new system,
the city council is already looking ahead
to the feasibility of districting Fort
Collins into trash collection zones!
We know that Fort Collins is not com-
pletely out of the woods yet. We are
anticipating, for instance, that this fall's
leaf-raking and bagging will add to
peoples' trash bills—and that they are
going to demand that the city do
something about it. Still, we feel confi-
dent that Fort Collins made the right
choice by adopting the pay-as-you-
throw ordinance.
Fort Collins's success story was compiled by Susie Gordon, Environmental Planner,
(970) 221-6265.
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