Community Population: 56,000Households Served: 17,783 (FY09)Services Provided: Weekly curbside trash and dual-stream recycling collection Program Overview· Residents pay $2 for each 33-gallon bag, or $1 for each 15-gallon bag, to offset the cost of trash disposal. · The average household spends less than $200 annually in PAYT trash bags. · Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money is used to pay for bags for residents who are income eligible.· All residential trash must be in City-approved bags. There is no limit to the number of PAYT bags a resident may purchase and use each week.· All residents are eligible to receive one free recycling bin; additional bins are sold for $5 each. Residents can also obtain free recycling stickers, which can be used to convert an existing container or trash receptacle into a recycling container. · The residential PAYT Program serves all residential dwellings up to 6 units, as well as the Malden Housing Authority and other municipal buildings. · The City was awarded a PAYT start-up grant of $71,132 from MassDEP. We can't find that in the budgets! History· In 2000, the City of Malden successfully instituted a commercial PAYT Program for residential buildings with more than 6 units, mixed-use buildings and businesses. · In order to balance the FY09 budget, the Mayor of Malden proposed a residential PAYT Program, citing an estimated $2.5 million dollars could be freed up (from disposal cost savings and revenue from the sale of PAYT bags), avoiding substantial program and personnel cuts. We still lost safety personnel this year! Did the bag save the jobs of the people that watch over us when we sleep at night? NO!· The City Council approved the PAYT ordinance in June 2008. Without any input from the community!· Directly following the vote, a campaign was launched to educate and inform the public. That's right the Mayor had to spend his own campaign funds against the citizens and it took the Boston Globe to discover that he was the nameless person that sent them out! The City spent $47,000 on outreach efforts. In October 2008, Malden implemented a full PAYT program, whereby all residential trash must be placed in City-approved bags. · What about the 68-25% beating it took 18 months after its passage? Did they listen to the people? Implementation· The PAYT bag vendor manufactures bags, warehouses inventory and delivers bags to stores. PAYT bags are sold at 16 local retailers as well as several municipal locations (City Clerk’s Office, City Treasurer, DPW). The City initially ordered 750,000 33-gallon bags representing a projected 4-month inventory. Two months later, the City Council voted to offer a smaller bag option (15 gallon capacity, sold for $1 each) for residents who do not fill a 33-gallon trash bag weekly. · Retailers place bag orders with the bag vendor (Waste Zero). Waste Zero (why didn't this company ever get mentioned by the Mayor and his cohorts?) then drop-ships bags to retailers and bills them. Retailers, in turn, pay the City. The City keeps Waste Zero apprised of which retailers are delinquent on paying bills. Retailers receive no mark up for selling bags. Administration and Enforcement· All PAYT bag revenue currently goes into the General Fund. It is anticipated that the City will establish a Solid Waste Enterprise Account. Non-compliant trash bags are not collected and residents are notified to re-bag. · Repeat offenders are issued a bright yellow violation notice and fined $50 (minimum) plus a disposal charge. · A hotline was created for residents to report non-compliance. The City of Malden has noticed no increase (that they will admit to) in the amount of illegal dumping since the implementation of PAYT. The City strengthened its illegal dumping ordinance, increased fines to $300 and posted signs around the City (targeting known illegal dumping sites) warning that illegal dumping carries a $300 fine. Successes to be Replicated· Mayor formed four working groups to tackle Communication, Enforcement, Finance and Ordinances; these groups met weekly to work out the details of the program. Government that still operates in the shadows! · Strong outreach to the community included: Informational meetings, a clear and consistent message, a dedicated hotline, FAQ document and other notices delivered to homes in multiple languages, press releases, TV announcements, as well as PAYT programming on local cable channel. · Customer service training. Really? Positive Outcomes · The City of Malden received a 2010 EPA Merit Award for this program. Was awarded in April of this year! Why didn't we know about this? |
