Palermo rep suggests PAYT at China transfer station

by Mary Grow

At the March 11 China Transfer Station Committee meeting, member Bob Kurek shared his calculation of the economic benefit of charging all users a per-bag fee to dispose of trash at the China facility.

Palermo users currently buy colored bags for their trash. China residents do not, since their taxes support the facility along with other town services.

Kurek calculated that adding pay per bag (PPB) for China users would generate enough additional revenue to make the transfer station self-supporting, assuming Palermo continues to contribute.

PPB is also fair, he and station manager Thomas Maraggio said; those who use the facility the most pay the most. Maraggio said PPB would make attendants’ work easier, since all trash would be bagged.

Town Clerk Angela Nelson found on the cover of China’s 2014-15 town report, published in June 2016, a caption: “The year of the great PAYT [Pay As You Throw] debate.” She quoted a comment on p. 57 that said, “As of this writing February 6, 2016, the Select Board has rescinded their earlier action to initiate a Pay Per Throw Program to a time uncertain in the future.”

Committee member Lee Buzzell said one effect of PPB would probably be more residents switching to dumpsters. Chairman J. Chrisopher Bauman asked members to consider other unintended consequences, and asked Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood to calculate the effect on taxes.

Maraggio had compiled recycling statistics for China: the recycling rate is just over 25 percent if demolition debris is not counted, just over 20 percent if it is. The state average is around 30 percent, he said; the state goal is 50 percent.

The list of recyclables on the China website includes plastics, metal and aluminum cans, glass, newspapers and magazines, and corrugated cardboard. Maraggio said collection of newly-added #1 plastic is going well. He would especially like to see more composting of food wastes.

Committee members scheduled their next meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 8.