Landfill operator explores ‘pay as you throw’

The Central Landfill – the final repository for much of Rhode Island’s trash – is filling up and costs are on the rise, which could mean higher fees for many state residents.
Recycling more and tossing less could address those looming concerns, and the R.I. Resource Recovery Corporation, the agency that manages the Johnston facility, is considering a plan that would encourage such behavior. Under the proposal, households would be charged a fee for every bag collected curbside. Businesses and others that use private trash haulers would not be affected.
The system – known as “pay as you throw” – is widely used elsewhere in the country, according to Sarah Kite-Reeves, RIRRC’s director of recycling services. “More than 7,000 communities across the country use a pay-as-you-throw system,” she said. “About 50 percent of Massachusetts cities and towns use [it], and much of Connecticut. By July 2015, all of Vermont will be pay-as-you-throw.”
Some RIRRC board members have publicly expressed concern of widespread local opposition to a statewide system.
But last month RIRRC awarded $126,600 to consultant WasteZero of North Andover, Mass., to take an in-depth look at such a system, according to The Westerly Sun.
Typically, pay-as-you-throw systems require residents to put their trash in specially marked bags. Though sold in stores, the bags cost significantly more than regular trash bags, as the fee is included in the cost.
WasteZero has recommended charging residents $2 each for large trash bags.
The cost of the bags is expected to encourage households to recycle more cans, bottles and other items, rather than toss them.
More recycling could also generate revenue for cities and towns, because the material is usually sold.
At this point, only a handful of Rhode Island communities require residents to use the special bags. Middletown requires bags for curbside collection. In Burrillville, Central Falls, and North Smithfield, residents must use specially marked bags if they put out more than one bag of trash. Some South Country towns require special bags for trash brought to transfer stations.
With no expansion of recycling efforts, RIRRC managers predict that in 25 years there will be no more room left at the landfill.
The municipal dumping fee for trash picked up at curbside in Rhode Island is just $32 a ton. It’s been at that level since 1992, largely because state legislators have been reluctant to approve a hike. Opposition to raising the municipal fee has put a squeeze on RIRRC. Throughout New England the dumping fee is somewhere between $65 and $75 a ton.
“The fee has been so low for so long, in a few years finances at RIRRC will be upside down,” said Kite-Reeves.
It’s uncertain whether a change to a pay-as-you-throw system would require approval by the General Assembly. Resource Recovery’s board is awaiting a legal opinion from their lawyers. •

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