Tiverton should think twice before it replaces its existing ‘Pay As You Throw’ (PAYT) trash collection with huge and expensive and wasteful plastic bins.  

The “Municipal,” a magazine for town governments, recently headlined (Aug. 3, 2023) that  “PAYT Reduces Waste, Saves Money.” They are dead right. And that’s just what PAYT has been doing for 15 years in Tiverton. 

First, the PAYT program is environmentally friendly.  By requiring the use of a $1 or $2 purple bag for “trash,” it encourages us to save money and reduce actual “trash” by choosing instead to recycle, to donate, to compost, to buy wisely. Each of us pays for as much or as little trash as we make. The “Municipal” reports that PAYT reduces the amount of solid waste headed for landfills by as much as 40 percent. If we abandon PAYT we are guaranteed to increase the solid waste that has to go to expensive landfills that we will pay for one way or the other.

Second, the PAYT program is economical. How much people pay for bags is up to their decisions and their free choices on how much “trash” they have. And that’s it. Nothing more. With the garbage bins, we’ll still have to buy garbage bags. But on top of that we’ll also have to pay $100 a year or more. No matter how much or how little trash each of us makes. And then there’s the cost of those fancy giant bins, $150 or more each, two per household (trash and recycle), 3,500 households.  That’s $1,000,000. However the town works it, at the end of the day the taxpayer is going to foot that bill. And when our bin gets stolen, or the lid breaks, or a wheel falls off, that’s another $150 pop. For us.

Third, the PAYT program is friendlier to tax paying users. For those of us, who have little or no front yard, no garage or only a small one, there’s just nowhere to put these ugly giant boxes on wheels (two to a household!). Look around in other towns where the sidewalks are littered with these things.  It’s not pretty. And whether your bin is full or almost empty, out it must go and out it often stays. And for the elderly and disabled, it’s a challenge, too much of one, to maneuver those things around walkways and fences and curbs. It’s true some garbage escapes and becomes litter, but taller recycle bins and stronger bags address that.

The Tiverton PAYT program reduces the amount of garbage, allows each of us the freedom to control our expenses, saves us the taxpayers money, and makes for a friendlier environment.  

It’s the best choice.

John Reed

Tiverton