WasteZero® Releases Report Analyzing the Impact of Pay-As-You-Throw Systems on Residential Trash in Southern Maine

PAYT systems generate 44.8% less trash and have 62.3% higher recycling rates

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Jun 07, 2018, 01:58 ET

RALEIGH, N.C., June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WasteZero, the nation's leader in helping cities and towns reduce residential trash, has released a report analyzing the impact of unit-based pricing (also known as pay-as-you-throw or PAYT) programs on residential trash. The report contains head-to-head comparisons of municipalities in southern Maine with and without PAYT programs. It reveals that, on average, municipalities with PAYT annually generate 44.8% less trash per capita and have 62.3% higher recycling rates than municipalities who do not.

Key findings include:

9 of the 10 communities with the lowest annual pounds of trash per capita use PAYT.
For PAYT communities, the average pounds of trash per capita was 356.
For non-PAYT communities, the average pounds of trash per capita was 645.
For the PAYT communities, the overall average recycling rate was 33.1%.
For the non-PAYT communities, the average recycling rate was 20.4%.

The report uses data provided by ecomaine, a leading non-profit organization providing a range of waste disposal, recycling, and waste-to-energy solutions for municipalities in southern Maine. For fiscal year 2017, WasteZero gathered data from 20 municipalities and included all ecomaine customers that met the following criteria:

Provide curbside trash collection service to residents
Provide curbside recycling collection service to residents
Have clean data on file with ecomaine

The following data points were collected for each city or town:

Population
Trash tonnage
Recycling tonnage
Recycling Rate
Whether the municipality uses a PAYT trash program

Of the twenty municipalities identified, 11 have bag-based PAYT systems and 9 have no PAYT at all. For each municipality, WasteZero calculated the average pounds of trash thrown away per person during fiscal year 2017. The company then ranked the communities based on how much trash per capita they generate. The report is available at http://wastezero.wpengine.com/resources/analysis-of-payt-impact-in-southern-maine-ecomaine/

About WasteZero

WasteZero is the leading provider of municipal solid waste reduction programs in the U.S. and a Certified B Corporation. The company helps municipalities design, launch, and manage next-generation, waste reduction and recycling programs. Many of these programs, often with guaranteed reduction targets, reduce solid waste by almost half, double recycling rates, and generate significant cost savings. Learn more at: www.wastezero.com.

Contact:
Locke Raper
Executive Director Marketing
919.322.1224
[email protected]

SOURCE WasteZero