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Zero Sort Recycling and PAYT Trash Collection 2012 Schedule
Zero Sort Recycling and PAYT Trash Collection
2011 Schedule
Pay As You Throw
(PAYT) Trash Program
Starts January 1, 2011
REDUCE
- REUSE - RECYCLE
Monthly Data on Tons of Trash
and
Recyclables Disposed
Year Over Year Comparison
Frequently Asked
Questions
What is Pay As You Throw?
How does PAYT work?
When will PAYT go into effect?
Where can we buy bags?
How much
do the bags cost? Are there different sizes?
What color bags will we use?
Do I have to pay for
recycling, too?
Will I
also have to pay to have my PAYT bags picked up?
Can I put my PAYT bags in a trash can or other container at the curb?
Can I put other bags in
my PAYT bags?
Will everyone have to
purchase bags?
Will there be a senior
discount?
What if I don’t have the
proper bag?
How will the City deal
with offenders?
How many PAYT bags will we be able to dispose of each week?
Do I have to put a
PAYT bag out each week?
What if
my trash item does not fit into the PAYT bag?
Will trash still be
collected weekly?
How can I lower my trash cost?
Why should I pay for garbage pickup? Isn’t this what my taxes
are supposed to cover?
Won’t PAYT increase
illegal dumping?
Why is Brewer
implementing PAYT?
How and when did Brewer arrive at this
decision to adopt PAYT?
What are the goals of PAYT?
Is PAYT a new idea in Maine?
Why
did you choose PAYT bags over PAYT tags or stickers?
How much
profit do the stores make off the bags?
Will my taxes go
down as a result of PAYT?
How much does
the City pay for trash removal?
Who can I contact
to get more information?
REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE
Frequently Asked
Questions
What is Pay As You Throw?
Under a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash program,
households are charged for refuse collection based on the amount of
trash they throw away, providing a direct economic incentive for
residents to reduce waste.
How does PAYT work?
You buy City approved bags at stores where you
usually shop. Our waste hauler Pine Tree will be instructed to pick up
only the specially marked PAYT trash bags.
When
will PAYT go into effect?
PAYT begins January 1, 2011.
Where can we buy
bags?
Bags are on sale at the
following Brewer businesses:
Aubuchon Hardware
Big Apple S. Main St.
Big Apple Wilson St.
Brewer Public Library
Hannaford
Leadbetters Super Stop
Lowes
Paradis Shop N Save
Rite Aid
Save-A-Lot
Toziers Market
Walgreens
Walmart
How much
do the bags cost? Are there different sizes?
Yes,
there are 15 gallon and 33 gallon drawstring bags available.
15 gallon bags cost $1.25 each ($6.25 for a roll of 5)
33 gallon bags cost $2.00 each ($10.00 for a roll of 5)
What
color bags will we use?
Brewer’s official PAYT bags are orange and
imprinted with the City’s logo.
Do
I have to pay for recycling, too?
No. In fact, the City has significantly
enhanced recycling services by increasing the frequency to biweekly
pickup and greatly expanding the list of items that can be recycled.
By expanding and simplifying recycling, we are offering residents a way
to minimize their waste costs. Click
here
for information about the City’s free Zero Sort recycling program.
Will I
also have to pay to have my PAYT bags picked up?
No. The City pays Pine Tree to pick up
garbage in the official PAYT bags.
Can I put my PAYT bags in a trash can or other container at the curb?
Yes, you can place one
or more PAYT bags in containers at the curb.
Can I put other bags in my PAYT bags?
Yes. Many residents are
choosing to use smaller plastic or paper bags for garbage in their house
then periodically placing these in their PAYT bag stored in the garage,
shed, basement, etc. until the PAYT is full.
Will everyone have to purchase bags?
Everyone who receives
City-provided curbside trash pickup by Pine Tree (single family homes
and multifamilies of 4 units or less) will have to purchase bags.
Will
there be a senior discount?
No. Everyone will be paying the same price
for the same size bags. However, those who produce less trash
and/or recycle more will need fewer bags and have lower cost.
What if I don’t have the proper bag?
Pine Tree will not pick
up your trash unless it is in a specially marked, City approved bag.
How will the City deal with offenders?
The City will regularly monitor areas that have
historically had dumping issues. We will take steps to identify
the offenders, and repeat offenders will be cited in accordance with
local and state law.
How
many PAYT bags will we be able to dispose of each week?
There is no limit on how many specially marked,
City approved PAYT bags you may place curbside each week for pickup. The
PAYT program is designed to offset the cost of trash disposal.
Each resident controls how much they spend for their own trash disposal.
Do I have to put a
PAYT bag out each week?
No. Some households may find they can go one,
two or even more weeks before filling a PAYT bag.
What if
my trash item does not fit into the PAYT bag?
The only item not
required to be in a PAYT bag are tires (not more than two passenger
vehicle tires per household per week). If you have other
non-recyclable items that do not fit into the PAYT bag, you may be able
to dispose of them for a fee at the Brewer Landfill. Click
here
for hours of operation and a list of items the landfill will accept.
Will trash still be collected weekly?
Trash will still be picked up curbside every week.
Recycling pickup will increase to every other week starting the week of
January 3, 2011. Click
here for a calendar of 2011 trash and recycling collection
dates.
 How
can I lower my trash cost?
Participating in the City’s
Zero
Sort recycling program is an easy and free way to lower your
trash costs. Upwards of 70% of household trash can be recycled.
Composting yard waste and kitchen scraps and buying items with
less packaging are also effective ways to lower your disposal costs.
Why should I pay for garbage pickup? Isn’t this what my taxes are
supposed to cover?
-
Not all
taxpayers receive garbage services. Businesses and commercial
properties, including residences of over 4 units and trailer parks,
pay substantial taxes yet must contract for waste collection.
-
While they may
not have realized it, residential property owners have been paying
for waste management services, but they just could not see or
control that cost because it was part of their general tax bill.
Taxpayers who put out one or two bags of trash a week had been
subsidizing (paying for) neighbors who may have been putting out two
or even three times as much waste. With PAYT, residents pay
for what the service they use, and those who reduce and recycle are
rewarded with a lower trash bill.
-
The City is
still providing curbside collection of garbage as well as
recyclables. There are many PAYT communities, including
Ellsworth, without curbside collection—residents must not only
purchase PAYT bags or tags but they also have to transport their
garbage to a transfer station.
Won’t PAYT increase illegal dumping?
Studies have shown that most communities that start
a PAYT system see little to no increase in roadside dumping. Illegal dumping exists in almost all communities, but the majority of
dumped materials is not residential in origin—it is usually bulky items
(e.g. furniture, construction debris, etc) that are not affected with a PAYT system. Brewer Public Works will work closely with the Code
Enforcement office and Police Department to identify and pursue any
offenders.
Why is
Brewer implementing PAYT?
The City is implementing PAYT to offset the
increasing costs of trash disposal. PAYT allows each household to
control their volume of trash disposal and the costs associated with
excess disposal. PAYT also encourages recycling, which benefits
everyone.
How and when did Brewer arrive at this decision to adopt PAYT?
Click
here to see an overview of the City’s decision factors and a
timeline of adoption and implementation highlights.
What are
the goals of PAYT?
-
To generate revenue to help offset some of the City’s solid waste
costs.
-
To create equitable distribution of solid waste costs rather than
increasing the overall tax burden—you will pay for your own trash, not
your neighbor’s.
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To lower the amount the City pays to PERC for disposal of
residential trash.
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To proactively address the impending expiration of our 30 year
contract with PERC so that it does not result in undue impact to the
City’s tax rate or fiscal position. A portion of the bag revenue
will go into a reserve account to help smooth the transition to the
significantly higher disposal costs the City will face.
Is PAYT a
new idea in Maine?
No. Over 140 communities in Maine currently utilize
a PAYT program. This solid waste model is prevalent in southern
Maine and across the country and is becoming more common in central and
northern Maine. Holden and Ellsworth have had
PAYT in place for many years.
Why
did you choose PAYT bags over PAYT tags or stickers?
While it is true that PAYT tags would be less
expensive to produce and easier to store, experience from hundreds of
communities has shown multiple advantages of using bags. Tags are
easy to counterfeit; bags are not. Tags can fall off or be torn
off. Believe it or not, some who are short a tag on trash day try
to tape cash to their bag—easily misappropriated, as you can imagine.
Bags are easy for the hauler to see and distinguish; tags much less so.
Bags are more equitable because everyone is paying the same price for
the same volume. Tags can be placed on varying sizes of bags.
As a result, trash tonnages tend to remain higher under a tag program
than a bag program. Numerous communities that started their PAYT
programs with tags have since switched to bags. When Gloucester,
MA switched from tags to bags, it experienced a 37% reduction in trash
volume after just two weeks.
How much
profit do the stores make off the bags?
The stores selling the Brewer PAYT bags are
prohibited from marking up, or making a profit on, the bags. The
bags prices are set by the City Council and that is what the stores pay
to acquire the bags for re-sale to the public.
Will my taxes go
down as a result of PAYT?
We estimate that the PAYT and Zero Sort recycling
programs will provide close to a net $200,000 benefit to the City’s
budget. This is comprised of an estimated $150,000 in bag revenue
and a $45,000 reduction in PERC disposal costs. Normally such a
reduction in net costs would have translated into a tax rate decrease;
however, it was far from a typical year. In preparing the FY2011
budget, the City was facing an unprecedented $1.4 million shortfall in
revenues, including a shrinking tax base (~$360k loss) and loss of state
funding (~$800k). After multiple rounds of budget reductions, the
City still faced a $400k gap. In the end, the budget included
elimination of over 3% of filled staff positions, elimination of 5
seasonal positions, sharp reductions in numerous material and supply
accounts, PAYT and other adjustments with varying impacts to services.
How much does
the City pay for trash removal?
The bag fee does not cover all of the City’s
disposal costs. The City spends about $700,000 per year on its
solid waste programs, which includes refuse collection, recycling and
the landfill. Refuse costs make up about 60% ($420k) of that total
and are comprised of two primary expenses: the collection contract with
Pine Tree Waste and the cost of disposal at PERC. In 2010 we will
spend about $170,705 and $230,000, respectively on these costs. In
2011 we estimate we will spend about $170,025 and $185,000,
respectively.
Who can I contact to
get more information?
You can call the Public Works Department at
207-989-7800 or
contact Ken Locke, Director of Environmental Services,
at 207-989-5417 or
klocke@brewerme.org.
REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE
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