Loveland's "Pay as You Throw" Plan Pays
In 1993, the City of Loveland, CO decided it would change its strategy for collecting municipal waste.
No longer would it
- charge a flat rate for waste collection
- not distinguish between household trash, recyclables, and yard waste.
Its new strategy was intended to decrease the volume of waste wending its way to landfill.
Also driving the strategy switch were
- rising worker's compensation back injury claims,
- aging collection trucks; and
- a community interest in recycling.
Loveland's new tactics included
- recycling, both curbside and drop-off
- co-collection of trash and recyclables, and
- an aggressive yard-waste diversion program.
Loveland thereby entered the vanguard of U.S. communities to piece-price its waste. Although the practice continues to grow in popularity throughout the country—having been adopted by a couple thousand communities—Loveland remains an anomaly in the Rocky Mountain region.
Loveland's changed strategy has succeeded. The shift has boosted
- collection efficiency and worker safety by reducing loads (household-waste loads now average less than one 32-gal. bag per week).
- recycling to a level that would be the envy of any community—but particularly of Colorado communities, which generally suffer such comparisons. Loveland's diversion rate (for recycling/yard waste combined) escalated from zero in 1993 to 55% in 1998.
"People are now paying for every bag they put out, so that gives them a very strong incentive to minimize garbage and find other ways to reduce waste," said Bruce Philbrick, superintendent of solid waste for Loveland, a city of 47,000.
Each pre-1993 household paid $5.75 a month to have the city haul away an unlimited amount of trash. Since 1993, the city has required each bag of trash to have a city of Loveland stamp on it. The city sells the stamps.
Each bag requires one stamp. Trash-can-sized (32-gal.) bags take a 75-cent stamp; kitchen-can-sized (13-gal.) bags take a 40-cent stamp. The city also sells pre-stamped large bags for 90 cents and small bags for 50 cents. Most all of Loveland's household waste ends up in a county landfill, where the tipping fee is less than $15 per ton.
Coincidentally with its switching to "pay as you throw" trash collection, said Philbrick, the city engaged in an aggressive curbside recycling program and a yard-waste composting program.
Recycling and use of the yard-waste drop-off site, as well as other programs, cost each household $5 a month—no matter the quantity of recyclables placed curbside or yard waste delivered to the drop-off site. This fee appears on the utility bills of all city residents.
Pick up of recyclables is at the same time as that for regular household waste, using a combination collection vehicle.
Yard waste placed at curbside is collected once weekly between Apr. 1 and November. The city provides homeowners with a 96-gal cart for curbside yard-waste collection, which can be mechanically dumped. The city charges $4.50 per month during the period it provides the service.
Homeowners also can carry yard waste directly to Loveland's yard-waste transfer center. All yard waste ultimately goes to a composting facility about 20 miles distant, which sells its end product to city residents. The compost program, according to Philbrick, at best is a break-even venture.
Overall, however, the co-collection of trash and recyclables has saved Loveland about $100,000 a year.
The previous case study was inspired by an article appearing in the Mar. 7 issue of the Denver Post.