‘Pay as you throw’ aims to cut waste in Salisbury, Sharon

SALISBURY/SHARON — Members of the Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee, known as TRAC, discussed the potential benefits of bringing a unit-based pricing system to Sharon and Salisbury’s waste management programs at a June 18 meeting.

TRAC Chair Barbara Bettigole said that the new system could help achieve the group’s mission statement: “Our charge as a Committee is reducing the amount of waste we produce and increasing the efficiency of recycling,” she said.

Bettigole noted that other towns in Connecticut have utilized unit-based pricing, also known as “pay as you throw,” alongside large scale composting operations to reduce refuse output. “That’s made the biggest impact on waste reduction.”

Brian Bartram, longtime manager of the Salisbury/Sharon Transfer Station, said that unit-based pricing offers residents “more control over what they’re paying to get rid of their garbage.” He qualified, however, that the current system has been controversial as larger households that produce more waste are benefited by the fixed, yearly price that enables them to discard as much trash as they like.

Smaller households, such as solo homeowners or older couples, produce far less waste, he said, and may appreciate paying for only what they produce rather than paying the same yearly sticker cost.

Bartram mentioned Kent Transfer Station has already piloted such a system, known as the orange bag system, and it “sounds like the experiment isn’t terrible,” he said. Kent First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer acknowledged there has been some pushback, but the transition has been an overall success.

Bartram said Massachusetts is “way further ahead than Connecticut” in terms of unit-based pricing, which Salisbury Selectman Kitty Kiefer said she had first-hand experience with as a one-time resident of the state. She relayed that it was widely accepted and seemed to function well.

Salisbury/Sharon is applying for a Sustainable Materials Management grant from the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which offers preference to unit-based pricing programs. The funding would potentially be used to improve composting services.

“Expansion is one good word that can cover it all,” Bettigole said of further developing commercial food scrap diversion operations.

Several participants in the meeting emphasized that lobbying restaurants and private schools in the towns will be vital in establishing an effective, widespread composting program.

Bettigole reported that a pilot effort by LaBonne’s Market has been paused due to issues with “what they thought were bear proof containers.” An effort at the Indian Mountain School, however, has been very promising, she said.