The First Year of Pay-as-You-Throw in Plymouth Mass.

The First Year of Pay-as-You-Throw
in Plymouth Mass.
John Craig, WasteZero
Jonathan Beder, Plymouth Public Works Director
Oct. 7, 2014

Copyright © 2014 WasteZero
2
John Craig
Director of Municipal
Partnerships
WasteZero
Founded in 1991
Offices in Massachusetts, Maine, and
North Carolina
Focused on delivering best-in-class
municipal waste reduction programs (100%
customer retention rate for programs we
design and manage)
Work with approximately 800
municipalities and countless private
customers across 41 states
Certified as a B Corp—meets rigorous
standards of social and environmental
performance
Committed to creating American jobs
About WasteZero

3
An Incentive to Waste?
Solid waste is the only utility residents do not pay for based on actual use.
Metered Unmetered
Electricity Gas
Water
Trash
The fact that garbage is an unmetered utility leads to
avoidable waste of financial and environmental resources.

Why Pay-as-You-Throw?
4
Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems are an alternative to the traditional MSW
payment model. These systems share one very basic concept: customers who
put out more waste for collection pay more than those who put out less.
There are several benefits to PAYT policies:
Economic incentives for residents to reduce waste and increase
diversion
Reduced solid waste collection and disposal costs
Positive environmental impact from decreased waste and
increased recycling
Landfill life significantly extended

WasteZero Trash Metering™ Results
1250
1000
750
500
250
5
1,100 lbs.
Annual Pounds per Capita of US
Household Solid Waste Disposed
900 lbs.
500 lbs.
or less
0
1970s—Before the
Recycling Revolution
2013—National Average,
After 40 Years of
Recycling Education
2013—Average in Cities
With WasteZero Pay-as-
You-Throw Programs

Immediate and Long-Term Results
Within 90 days: Long Term (Years 2-10):
6
1Assuming municipality has no managed waste reduction program at inception.
Trash tonnage drops to 50% of
national average and sometimes even
lower. Bills for tipping fees plummet.
• Tonnage can be reduced by up to 60%1.
• Tipping fees continue to decline and
recycling revenues rise accordingly.
• Residents become increasingly satisfied.
Recycling tonnage often doubles or
even triples. Revenue from
recycled material increases.

Implementation and Management Support
WasteZero can provide a range of program services and community support to help municipal leaders
with their waste reduction program, both during the program’s launch and on an ongoing basis.
Program Services Community Support
Custom Bags
and Packaging
Manufactures highest quality, drawstring
bags with custom imprinting and packaging
Retail Store
Distribution™
Accounting and
Financial Reporting
7
Program Website
Provides critical, program-related
information to residents
Toll-Free Number
Supplements the website, particularly
for residents without Internet access
Launch
Announcements
Informs residents of the program’s
launch and provides vital information
Educational
Materials
Explains the program and provides
recycling and waste reduction tips
Media Briefing
Package
Prepares officials to communicate
effectively and consistently with media
Program
Management
Provides the municipality with a main
point of contact from WasteZero
Stocks municipal bags in local retail stores
for convenient residential purchase
Provides logistics and full accounting to
manage the inventory of bags
Progress Reports
and Case Studies
Helps officials communicate and
celebrate the program’s successes
WasteZero Trash Metering™

Resident Perspective
8
Pay-as-you-throw
bags purchased
at local retail stores
Convenient
2
Solid waste funding shifts
from flat fee to variable
rate (payment per bag)
Fair
1
Pay-as-you-throw bags used
for disposal (in city’s existing
collection system—automated
carts, barrels, or bags at curb)
Easy
3
Waste decreases
and recycling increases Effective
4

Strong Support for Pay-as-You-Throw
9
In a recent survey of almost 1,000 PAYT participants from 10 communities,
significant majorities said they are satisfied with PAYT, see it as fair and easy to
take part in, and believe it is effective.
• Favorability
79% have either a very or somewhat favorable
opinion of PAYT, with an outright majority (52%)
having a very favorable opinion.
• Fairness
More than two-thirds—68%—see the program as
fair.
• Ease of Participation
74% think it is not difficult to take part in PAYT.
• Effectiveness
89% said PAYT is performing better than or as well
as they expected.
• Minimal Political Impact
77% said they are either more likely to vote for
leaders who brought in PAYT or that it does not
make a difference in their vote.

About Plymouth’s Solid Waste Program
10
Jonathan Beder
Director of Public Works
Town of Plymouth
Town of Plymouth Solid Waste Program:
Automated curbside collection with single-stream
recycling
One transfer station
Pay-as-you-throw with orange bags
mandatory for both curbside and dropoff

Background
11
In late 2012 and early 2013, a number of issues converged to lead the town of
Plymouth to consider moving to pay-as-you-throw:
Expiration of county lease at South Street transfer station
Capping of South Street transfer station
Upcoming expiration of SEMASS contract, with tipping fees expected to triple
Low recycling and high disposal rates in residential population
Declining sticker sales
Changes in future disposal markets
Increases in traffic and disposal tonnage at Manomet and Cedarville transfer
stations with the closure of South Street

Plan of Action
To address the transfer station issues, impending tipping fee increases, and
suboptimal residential disposal patterns, the town adopted a pay-as-you-throw
program that began on July 1, 2013:
12
July 1, 2013:
— Closed South Street and Cedarville transfer stations and consolidated
transfer station operations at Manomet
— Began requiring all transfer station customers to use orange Plymouth
pay-as-you-throw bags for disposal (recycling remained free)
Jan. 1, 2014:
— Added option of automated curbside collection and single-stream
recycling collection with pay-as-you-throw
This unique program was the preferred option of residents, for its convenience
and improved service, and the town, for its ability to allow us to control costs.

In the first year of PAYT, Plymouth met its solid waste reduction targets, cutting
MSW tonnage by 44%—from 1.14 tons per household in FY13 to .64 tons in FY14.
13
Reduced Solid Waste Tonnage

Reduced Solid Waste Tonnage
14
The recycling rate in Plymouth nearly doubled in the first year of PAYT.

Financial Savings
15
In its first year, pay-as-you-throw has had a significant positive impact on
Plymouth’s municipal finances.
Total
disposal
savings:
$126,653
Recycling
losses:
$23,371
Net
financial
impact:
$102,922
2
1
3
These savings will be magnified once Plymouth’s tipping fee nearly
triples—from $22.53 per ton now to $65 per ton after Jan. 1, 2015.

Environmental Benefits
Source: US Environmental Protection Agency WARM model
16
Greenhouse Gas Reduction From PAYT
Equivalent to:
Emissions from
1,700
passenger vehicles
or
8,900 tons
MTCO2e
Reducing gasoline
consumption by
992,000 gallons
Reduction in Energy Use From PAYT
Equivalent to:
Powering
660
residences
or
74,000
MMBTUs
Installing
9,100 rooftop solar
panel arrays
Additional environmental benefits result from fewer transfer station trips
(due to consolidation) and compressed natural gas collection trucks.

Next Steps and Questions
17
With a successful first year of PAYT in the books, the town is considering the
following steps to continue optimizing the program’s operations and results:
Food waste diversion
Anaerobic digestion
Continued improvements in curbside collection service

The First Year of Pay-as-You-Throw in Plymouth Mass.

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Editor's Notes