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Benefits |
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Leading economists say that implementing a Trash Metering, or "pay-as-you-throw," program is a sound and prudent response to the exigencies of today's economy. Standard and Poor's chief economist David Wyss says a Trash Metering system is an innovative way to provide services and obtain the revenue to pay for those services. Writing about the newly installed WasteZero System in Dartmouth, MA, Wyss says, "That's the kind of thing [municipalities] can do."
By reducing waste, a Trash Metering program such as the WasteZero System also has a measurable and positive effect on environmental quality. Research by the US EPA has demonstrated that Trash Metering is the most effective single action that a municipality can take to increase recycling and diversion. Less waste and more recycling mean fewer natural resources need to be extracted. In addition, the energy output associated with the manufacture, distribution, use, and subsequent disposal of products is reduced as a result of the increased recycling and waste reduction that Trash Metering encourages.
In communities with Trash Metering programs, residents are charged for the collection of municipal solid waste – ordinary household trash – based on the amount they throw away. This creates a direct economic incentive to recycle more and to generate less waste.
Traditionally, residents are assessed for solid waste collection through property taxes or a fixed fee, regardless of how much – or how little – trash they generate. Trash Metering breaks with tradition by treating trash services just like other utilities. Households pay a variable rate depending on the amount of service (in this case, per unit of trash disposed) they use.
WasteZero Trash Metering communities charge residents a fee for each trash bag they generate. The programs are simple and fair. The less individuals throw away, the less they pay.
More information on the benefits of Trash Metering can be found by following the links to WasteZero's Financial Impact and Environmental Impact.
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About Trash Metering |
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| Trash Metering systems, also known as pay-as-you-throw, user pay, unit-based pricing, and SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash), charge households a rate based on how much waste they present for collection. Variations of this simple concept – akin to paying a water or electricity bill – have been embraced by about 7,100 municipalities in the United States, and have led to the diversion of some 6.5 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year that would otherwise have been landfilled or incinerated. Trash Metering programs are available to about 25% of the US population and about 26% of communities in the US – including 30% of the largest cities in the US. |
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Environmental Impact |
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| In more than 300 communities nationwide, the WasteZero System has dramatically impacted residential waste diversion. A 2008 analysis of all WasteZero communities found that the WasteZero System decreased residential MSW by an average 43 percent in weight. A recent study by the US EPA of all Trash Metering municipalities shows that about one-third of diverted waste is diverted directly to recycling, about one-third is diverted to composting, and one-third is "source reduced" (buying in bulk, reduced packaging, etc.). |
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