Single-Hauler Pay-As-You-Throw

The Board of Trustees will be considering a recommendation from the Sustainable Futures Commission of a Single-Hauler Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) program for the Town of Lyons. The Single-Hauler PAYT program is a waste rate strategy that sets households’ waste collection rates based on the amount of trash (landfill) they accumulate, with increased costs correlating with incrementally greater quantities of trash; in other words, the more you send to the landfill, the more you pay. In order to make the program financially sustainable, the Town would require all residents to use a single hauler for waste removal. To further promote zero-waste efforts, the program intends to incorporate recycling and compost services, as part of the hauler’s price model.

The biggest drivers for a Single-Hauler PAYT program are to find ways to maximize diversion from landfills, while simultaneously aiming to reduce the cost to residents, through more efficient economies of scale. This program intends to have a comprehensive waste, recycling, and organic program for all single-family residences.

A request for proposals (RFP) was posted on June 27, and final proposals are due September 13. At the October 7 Board of Trustees meeting, the Board will be presented with an assessment of submitted bids, from which they will determine whether or not to move forward.