We do understand there may be people who just haven’t gotten the word, but we’re going to be very accommodating.”

Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr.

PORTSMOUTH — Those orange plastic bags you’ve being seeing in local stores around town is a reminder that the new pay-as-you-throw program begins Thursday, Feb. 1 at the transfer station.

It’s the first time Portsmouth has instituted the system, which is designed to cut down on the amount of trash that’s hauled to the state landfill — and to increase recycling rates — by requiring residents to pay for the amount of trash they toss. The less trash you produce, the more you save.

The orange bagsstic, produced by WasteZero, started arriving in local stores last Friday. For $10 each, you can purchase packages of five 33-gallon bags, eight 15-gallons bags or 10 eight-gallon bags. Residents who use the transfer station must also display a sticker on their vehicle — $140 for the first household vehicle, $10 for the second — which can be purchased at the tax collection office at Town Hall. 

“The bags are in the stores, although I don’t know if they’re in all the stores,” Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. said Tuesday.

The town planned to roll out with eight stores: Clements’ Marketplace, both Rite Aids, Domina's Agway, The Green Grocer, Patriot Petroleum, ACE Hardware and the Prudence Island variety store at Homestead. The two Cumberland Farms stores in Portsmouth and Seabra in Bristol are also expected to sell the bags.

Mr. Rainer said for now, the town is focusing on helping residents switch over to PAYT. Recycling Coordinator Raymond Antaya, he said, will be at the transfer station Thursday, Friday and Saturday to help ensure that people transition smoothly to the new program.

“We do understand there may be people who just haven’t gotten the word, but we’re going to be very accommodating,” Mr. Rainer said. “This isn’t to hit people over the head with new regulations. We kept the sticker price down, the council voted to approve the recommendation of the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee and we’re going to make sure this is going to go as smoothly as possible. We want to help people if there are problems.”

Anyone who comes across any issues at the transfer station should contact Mr. Antaya at 401/643-0359 or rantaya@portsmouthri.com. “We’ll try as hard as possible to resolve it,” Mr. Rainer said.

While some residents may be taken unawares by PAYT, Mr. Rainer pointed out that the new program has received a great deal of publicity both in the media and on Facebook and other online platforms.

“I’ve lost count on how many articles we’ve had in the newspaper and online and on social media. It’s been discussed at just about every single Town Council meeting since August. I don’t know what more we can do,” he said.

Asks for patience

Although JR Vinagro Corporation is the same company operating the transfer station as before, a brand new work crew — complete with an extra hand to monitor the trash and recycling bins — is in place. Mr. Rainer is asking residents to be patient with the new program as the crew is still on a learning curve — just like residents.

“Because they don’t have the same experience under their belt, we’re run into some problems where some bins have been overflowing and yard waste has sat longer than it should,” said Mr. Rainer, adding that the town is working with Vinagro to resolve those issues as soon as possible.

“But for the most part, people seem to be OK and they’re happy we kept the transfer station,” he said.

Must wait on numbers

Mr. Rainer said he doesn’t know how many PAYT bags have yet been sold. “We won’t get that information for about a month, when we get a report from WasteZero,” he said.

Likewise, it’s also unknown how many vehicle stickers have been sold, but the town should be on track to meet its projected numbers, he said.

“We projected 3,500 sticker sales this year,” said Mr. Rainer. “I checked Friday with tax office and they said based on historical sales at the end of January — and there’s usually an increase in March due to people returning from Florida and what not — we’re about where we should be.”

Complicating things is the fact that the grace period for buying the new stickers on Prudence Island runs to the end of March, compared to the end of January for other residents, he said. 

“We probably won’t know an exact number until mid-March because so many people buy their stickers at the last possible second,” he said.