New London, Connecticut, is considering a new program that would make residents pay to throw out their trash.
Known as "Pay-As-You-Throw," the program is designed to encourage residents to throw out less and recycle more.
Brian Sear, New London’s director of Public Works, says, Pay-As-You-Throw is a proven system that makes people aware of what they throw away, and it almost immediately reduces the amount of trash volume in our flow to about half of what we have now.”
The program would require residents to purchase official “Town of New London” trash bags to throw out garbage. It would cost $1 for a 33-gallon bag and 60 cents for a tall kitchen trash bag.
The primary driver, right up front, is cost savings.
Each year the city spends $2.25 million on solid waste disposal. Sear says the program could save them about $600,000 annually.
But not all residents are on board.
Frank McLaughlin, a landlord in New London, calls the program “double taxation.”
“I feel that we already pay a high rate of taxes in New London. And our taxes are supposed to pay for the things that government is supposed to provide. Police and fire protection, education, and I believe sanitation. I believe I pay my taxes to get my trash picked up.”
Other towns in the area have implemented the program. It’s been running in Stonington since 1992. East Lyme started the program in 1992, but ended it six years later.
New London has received $54,000 in state grants to hold discussions and study how Pay-As-You-Throw would work for the city and its residents.