Fort Worth PAYT cans and bags.

Does it seem fair that some households produce up to a dozen trash bags per week while their neighbors, who pay the same taxes, produce few if any trash bags but plenty of recycling and sometimes compost?

That’s what happens in all Washington-area municipalities, but more than 7,000 municipalities nationwide covering 25% of the population have rejected this “cash-for-trash” subsidy in favor of “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT).

In DC the situation is even more unfair. Because private haulers collect waste from buildings with more than 3 residential units, while the city collects waste from all other residential dwellings, apartment and condo residents subsidize waste collection for everyone else. Gas, water and electricity are paid by usage. Trash collection costs should be as well.

How does PAYT work? The city bills you monthly for trash collection based on the size and number of trash cans you request. In addition, you can buy city-approved trash bags, or stickers that you can affix to your own trash bags, at local stores and use them if your can is full. Curbside collectors only pick up trash from city cans and bags, or bags with city stickers on them. And taxes can go down now that collection and disposal pay for themselves.

PAYT has been demonstrated across the country. Fort Worth charges monthly rates of $12.75 for a 32-gallon can, $17.75 for a 64-gallon can, $22.75 for a 96-gallon can, and $3 per city-approved bag to use when your can is full. San Jose, CA also does this, and has saved $4 million while more than doubling its recyclables. So does Seattle. This is what Frederick County plans to try in an upcoming PAYT pilot. In fact, 3 out of 10 large cities use PAYT. Why doesn’t DC?

A third-party assessment of DC’s tax structure commissioned by the CFO recommended PAYT, but former District Department of the Environment Director George Hawkins said in a GGW livechat that “We have looked at this issue, but are not currently thinking of moving to a pay-as-you-throw program until we have improved our core recycling program.” So we don’t want to increase recycling? The EPA says that “PAYT is the single most effective single action that can increase recycling and diversion” and PAYT programs have existed since the 70s (Spokane was the first in 1944). What are we waiting for exactly?

3 can sizes in Seattle.

The only concerns raised about PAYT, other than by those under the delusion that curbside collection is free, are about increases in illegal dumping and the ability of the poor to pay for collection. But PAYT communities report that illegal dumping is more fear than reality, and any increases last for 3 months or less. Furthermore, PAYT gives the poor control over their spending on trash collection, instead of taxing them to subsidize trash collection for large houses. That’s why PAYT is often called SAYT (Save-as-you-Throw).

The current budget crises are a great opportunity for DPW to adopt PAYT. If DPW is simply lacking the money or the will to implement a monthly billing system, then it should retain the current can collection system, but charge for city-approved bags or stickers that are sold at local stores to be used when your can is full. Non-approved bags or bags without stickers would either be ignored or collected with a fine imposed on the offender.

Simply by charging for bags or stickers to be used for overflow trash, we would expect to see an increase in recycling and a reduction in waste, as well as greater use of cans resulting in less blight and fewer rodents. If it was successful, the proceeds could pay for the billing system to place monthly fees on cans of different size. Trash collection would then be self-sustaining such that apartment and condo residents no longer subsidize everyone else’s trash collection, as everyone’s taxes would be reduced accordingly.

What do you think? DDOE has a new Director, Christophe Tulou. Contact him and DPW Director Howland, or the DPW and Environment directors in your municipality, to let them know how you feel about PAYT.

Ken Archer is CTO of a software firm in Tysons Corner. He commutes to Tysons by bus from his home in Georgetown, where he lives with his wife and son.  Ken completed a Masters degree in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America.