This Town Started Charging for Trash by the Bag. Here’s What Happened

A few years ago, until Massachusetts’s Plympton district, he completely cast money. People produced so much garbage that he threatened to remove the municipal transfer point.

In the urban system, residents will receive a $ 240 label for their cars that allow them to enter the pitudes where they can be thrown into the trash. However, a transparent volume combined with climbing landfills, said that this service costs the local government, which is twice.

One solution was to double the price of garbage labels, but it would not be fairly severely in Plympton’s low-income population, and it would be fair for smaller households – minimal garbage produced. Thus, about 3,000 cities decided to try something that other municipalities saw: the payment for the bag.

“Rob Firlotte,” Rob Firlotte, Plylotte’s master’s owner, the results were reported. In 2022, before the new system, the city threw 640 tons of garbage. Last year, this figure was 335 tons. “He forced people to use more, because he makes money to them,” said Firlotte.

Labels are already sold for $ 65 and purchased for $ 1.25, 33 gallons for 15-gallon bags ($ 1.25, 33 per gallon for 15-gallon bags) with residents size. That is, every week will spend $ 130 every week of a small trash bin, and Plympton would spend $ 350 than they decided to double the sticker prices. The settlement says this is about half of the trash draft and reduced about half by saving about $ 65,000 a year.

“We went to break from the deficit,” said Firlotte.

Plympton is not alone in success. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts About half of the state of the state 351 This has received a version of the “paid-to-throw,” or a version of the model. In 2023, along with the Payt, about a third of a little waste collected or 513 pounds for each home. 2018 in New Hampshire Similarly in detail differences.

“We found that the demand for waste disposal is really sensitive,” he said. “If you raise the price of the garbage, people will find ways not to put too much outside.”

Many other countries have used a collection of payment paving with payments for decades. There are examples of dating in the early 20s in the United States, Lisa Skumatz, President of Skumatz Economic Research Associations, Energy, Recycling and Sustainability Adviser. However, the modern application in the United States began to grow in the 1980s in the early 2000s and has seen continuous growth since then.

In the absence of the latest national information about the Payt, Skumatz estimates that a quarter of a quarter of a quarter in the United States. It only includes branded bag models such as PlyMpton, but the programs with the size of the containers (As in Denver and Seattle) or labeled each bag of each bag of people (as so) Vermont with at least one truck in Burlington). All Oregon communities Some of the capital’s iTeration and natural resources have a Defense Council a model bill They can use if others think to try.

One of the keys to success is sure that it is an alternative the landfill-approve Recycling and compost-as strong as possible. “You should not really make it easier to reduce the garbage of households,” he said. In addition to saving money, producing fewer garbage, as well as the landfill or burners, the greenhouse gas waste can mean less greenhouse gas emissions and then the virgin can provide the use of the material.

“You get a lot of benefits,” he said.

However, the change is often resisted. Haulers often prefer the simplicity of the bulk litter while the hundreds of trails are often preferred. – They also have landfills filled by tons). A baked garbage fee cooked for residents can suddenly appear.

“People have eaten for every few years,” he said. “[But] You can eat all the buffets causing a lot of waste and very bad behavior. “

First of all, there are three main roads for less garbage reduction and waste reduction and redirect it to repeat or compost instead of a landfill. It promotes all these alternatives to pay all these alternatives, as well as reducing, reusable, reusable and reuse or engrossing from the main cohort of ecologists.

“Should you get the next group and the next group,” said Skumatz. “Many of these people meet financial enthusiasm.”

When you throw skeptics, the primary argument is that it can cause illegal unloading. However, Skumatz consists of about 1,000 cities he conducted a survey, only saw any match in one quarter, and even this lasted about three months. Although the Payt is more difficult to tell people the flow of rubbish with rubbish, many complaints are not a problem.

“After six months, people really tend to give a pseudo to a previous system.” “But it is really difficult for many communities to pass through it.”

Firlotte said Plympon saw a few chic first, but not a ton of alternative labeling the price doubled. Older citizens were especially excited about a new approach, they took into account how much trash. From the beginning, the authorities are a virtual non-deceiving a virtual not to deceive Firlotte from refusing a dirty flow or pollution of recycling flow.

“For us,” he said, “It worked great.”

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