1. How much does the Carlisle Transfer Station cost to operate annually?
The transfer station costs approximately one percent of the Town Of Carlisle’s budget, or about $300,000 including electricity, trucking, wages, benefits and depreciation of equipment.
2. How much do the dump sticker fees offset the cost of operating the transfer station?
The revenue from the 1610 primary ($25) dump stickers and 522 secondary ($10) stickers produced about $50,000 in revenue in 2018. This covers only one sixth of the transfer station operating costs. The revenue was originally intended to pay for hazardous waste collection operations conducted by the Board of Health. The cost of hazardous waste collection comes to $10,000 annually. The rest of the transfer station sticker revenue goes into a revolving fund that is under the authority of the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen.
3. Why is the Carlisle Household Recycling Committee (CHRC) recommending PAYT? What's wrong with the current system?
Although Carlisle is close to the pinnacle of recycling, our solid waste tonnage ranks us in the top 10% in MA per household. Solid waste disposal costs are rising much faster than inflation prompting the State of Massachusetts’ 10 year 30% solid waste reduction goal. The solid waste Carlisle sends to the incinerator produces air pollution and negatively impacts land use, ground water and public health in communities beyond Carlisle. 147 Massachusetts communities have successfully implemented PAYT systems and reduced their solid waste by an average of 44%. As residents come to understand that trash disposal costs more than recycling, they are encouraged to recycle and divert more material from solid waste. Monitoring the use of the transfer station is challenging. PAYT offers a fair, simple, low cost and effective means to ensure our transfer station is not being taken advantage of by unauthorized use. All the surrounding towns have some form of a user fee and limits to solid waste disposal. Carlisle stands alone among its neighboring communities with no limits.
Municipal trash that is burned in an incinerator, as is the case for Carlisle, does not completely disappear. In addition to unhealthy particulate matter that escapes from smoke stacks, every 10 tons of trash burned produces 2.5 ton of toxic incinerator ash that is landfilled. Landfills in Massachusetts have been closing since the 1970’s. Only 20 landfills remain in our state, with two of the largest, Chicopee (1200 tons per day) and Southbridge (1500 tons per day) closing in a few weeks. That leaves Massachusetts with 9872 tons per day of capacity. Four more are slated to close by 2020 removing another 2180 tons per day of capacity. Of the 20, only 7 accept incinerator ash. The town of Saugus is currently suing Wheelabrator for damages related to its incinerator ash landfill operation. On average each Carlisle household produces approximately 2 tons of trash annually, resulting in 500 pounds of incinerator ash.
4. I pay a lot in property taxes. The TS is one of the few services the town provides residents. Why should we have to pay out of pocket?
Some towns like Lincoln MA do not charge anything for using their transfer station, not even for their dump sticker. Other towns like Concord, Littleton and Acton do not use any property taxes for their transfer station operations and charge dump sticker fees and have PAYT bags, tags or stickers to cover all their costs. What’s been proven in 147 of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts who use a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) system is that charging on a per bag basis for disposal of solid waste reduces solid waste by an average of 44%. This reduction does not occur if no fees are charged or even if a fixed fee is charged as is the case with an annual dump sticker.
5. Will my property taxes be reduced?
No, but under the CHRC recommended PAYT system the increase you see will be mitigated by approximately $11 per $100,000 of your home’s assessed value assuming a 44% reduction in solid waste is achieved. So a home assessed at $700,000 will see a property tax mitigation of $77.
6. How much will I have to pay in fees?
Under the CHRC proposal annual transfer stickers will be free. Each household will get a voucher with their first sticker of the year for 20 thirty three gallon starter bags (or they can substitute either 40 fifteen gallon or 80 eight gallon bags). After the household has consumed all their annual allotment of starter bags they will have to buy bags at 10 cents per gallon. $3.30 for the 33 gallon bags, 1.50 for the 15 gallon bags and $0.80 for the eight gallon bags. To understand the combined impact of the property tax mitigation and bag fees specific to your household please visit the PAYT calculator at this link https://qunect.com/payt/ The calculator compares the property tax cost and dump sticker fees before PAYT to the property tax cost and bag and bulky fees of the CHRC proposed PAYT program.
7. How can we be sure that Carlisle will see a 44% reduction in solid waste with PAYT?
Looking at Acton’s PAYT report solid waste tonnage per household served before PAYT was about 3400 tons annually for about 3700 households served. This comes to .92 tons per household. After PAYT in the most recent year reported they are at 2232 tons for 4,138 households served or .54 tons per household which is a 41% reduction. Because Carlisle is starting at 1.13 tons per household served (1811 tons for 1600 households) CHRC believes we can get easily get a 44% reduction.
8. Where does the solid waste go that no longer ends up at the transfer station under PAYT?
One of the largest reductions occurs when people compost their kitchen scraps. Massachusetts towns that have conducted detailed solid waste audits have discovered 30% of solid waste is compostable. CHRC’s PAYT proposal includes composting receptacles at the transfer station. The next most important reduction occurs due to increased recycling, followed by repair instead of replacement and donation instead of disposal. Changes in purchase preferences favoring reduced or recyclable packaging all contribute to PAYT solid waste reductions. A break down of the 44% reduction looks approximately like this: 12% from increased composting, 11% from increased recycling, 10% from a decrease in bulky items such as mattresses and couches, 6% from a decrease in small construction and demolition projects, and 5% from a decrease in textiles and other miscellaneous items.
9. Won’t PAYT increase illegal dumping here in Carlisle?
There is no evidence that PAYT increases this kind of activity. Concord MA has had a MassDEP compliant PAYT system for many years and has not seen any increase in illegal dumping. Rod Robison, Environmental Services Program Administrator in Concord MA, oversees the PAYT system and was active in its initial implementation as well. Rod has seen no increase in illegal dumping in Concord. The most recent incident he could recall involved Acton residents depositing household solid waste in park receptacles. They were able to identify the perpetrators by a simple forensic examination of the trash. They sent letters to the guilty party with a CC to their local police department and the practice ceased.
10. Won’t PAYT cause some of my neighbors to deposit their trash in their backyards threatening our environment, especially our groundwater?
This kind of activity has happened in the past here in Carlisle, although much less so recently as the awareness of our environment has increased dramatically. This kind of activity is illegal. If you do spot this kind of activity you should contact our police or our code enforcement officer, the building inspector. They will contact the land owner and make them aware of the town, state and federal laws and regulations prohibiting this kind of activity.
11. Isn’t Carlisle unsuitable for PAYT as we are unusual to surrounding towns without a municipal water system?
Bolton MA has two acre zoning, a similarly sized population to our own and is serviced by private wells and septic systems. Bolton has had a PAYT system at their transfer station for over 15 years without any issues of well water contamination linked to PAYT.
12. Shouldn’t we try to encourage more recycling before we take the drastic step of PAYT?
Carlisle is already close to the pinnacle of recycling per household in Massachusetts. Even if we were to take the top recycling spot in Massachusetts, the reduction in our solid waste tonnage would still leave us in the top ten percent on a per household basis for solid waste. See below for more details. The only remotely comparable towns that have transfer stations that do a better job are Sudbury and Needham. Sudbury is a special case as their transfer station only services 18% of their population. Achieving the Needham ( a PAYT community) recycling rate of .57 tons per household served here in Carlisle, would decrease our solid waste tonnage from 1.13 tons per household to 1.05 tons per household. This would be a small improvement, but Carlisle would still be in the top 10 percent in the state with regard to solid waste tonnage per household.
13. Won’t we get a reduction in solid waste simply because we drive people away from using the transfer station?
Looking at Acton’s PAYT report it's clear there was no significant attrition in Acton's transfer station use as the result of implementing PAYT. In fact in the most recent year reported they are servicing more residents than they did in any of the three years prior to PAYT.
14. Instead of PAYT can’t we just improve monitoring of who uses the Transfer Station?
Monitoring the use of the transfer station has not been successful historically. According to Lieutenant Crowe, several years ago the police provided a detail at the transfer station to check for stickers. But this practice has not been repeated in recent years. The transfer station staff is busy managing the operation of the transfer station, running the compactors, answering questions, swapping dumpsters, etc., and cannot station themselves at the entrance to check for dump stickers as the police detail did. Controlling access creates no incentive to reduce solid waste tonnage which is the central purpose of PAYT. With PAYT, monitoring shifts from access to the transfer station to the area where the transfer station staff normally spend their time, the places where residents actually deposit their recycling, bulky and solid waste.
15. How much does construction and demolition (C&D) debris add to our solid waste tonnage?
The C&D tonnage counts in our recycling numbers as it is sent to the Devens Recycling Center. It is not contributing to our solid waste tonnage sent to the incinerator. Carlisle already charges a fee to dump C&D materials. $50 per pickup truck load (approximately a half ton) and $150 for larger trucks. Carlisle sold 56 $50 coupons and a single $150 coupon in 2018 for a total of $2,950. At a cost of $85 per ton the 222 tons of C&D materials cost Carlisle $18,870 to dispose of in 2018. Having PAYT will discourage people from putting construction and demolition (C&D) debris into the incinerator dumpster and we should consider requiring anyone getting a building permit to have a dumpster on site before getting the building permit. It is illegal to put C&D into the solid waste stream. Residents who have smaller demolition jobs (like an old fence) can purchase canvas dumpsters from the local hardware stores. These bags start at about $20 for a bag that will hold a half ton. The disposal fee, which includes on-site pickup, is paid for separately and starts at $115 for a half ton.
16. Won't the food scraps bin proposed for the TS be smelly and messy?
The CHRC proposal includes a contract with Black Earth Compost, a company that has an excellent track record of disposal and collection practices. Residents will discard food scraps in bins that are fitted with sturdy liners. The covered bins are emptied within 12-24 hours and the liners are replaced after each collection.
17. What about trash that is dumped in front of my house? Will I have to pay to get rid of that?
It’s a crime to dump trash on the side of the road or on public or private property without the permission of the land owner. As such this should be reported to the police as soon as it’s discovered. The DPW is responsible for removing any illegally dumped materials. But a police report should be filed first. Often by examining the illegally dumped materials the perpetrator can be identified and brought to justice.
18. What does one do with their stockpile of trash bags if we have to use PAYT bags?
There will be a transition period so don’t stockpile trash bags. Use the ones you have until the change to PAYT, consider donating your old trash bags to a school or day care or charity that has their own dumpster or hauler.
19. What if I am a very low trash household and don’t need so many PAYT starter bags that are given to me each year?
Angela Smith of the Carlisle Council on Aging has already reached out to encourage the donation of extra PAYT bags to the COA. Or you can donate to a larger household that needs more than the annually allotted PAYT starter bags.
20. How were the CHRC proposed PAYT fees for bulky items arrived at?
The CHRC PAYT proposal models the proposed fees for bulky items on those in Littleton, MA. These fees are typical for many of the communities in Massachusetts that have transfer station PAYT systems.
21. How were the CHRC proposed PAYT bag costs arrived at?
Traditionally Carlisle has charged a $25 dump sticker fee. This has paid for about 17% of the transfer station operation. Some towns recover 100% of their transfer station operational costs through fees, like Concord, Acton and Littleton. Other towns like Lincoln, MA don’t even have a dump sticker fee. Because Carlisle has historically supported the transfer station through property taxes there is no reason to completely change that. PAYT would effectively move the balance from a 17%/83% fee/tax split to a fifty fifty split. This is necessary to effectively implement PAYT. If PAYT bags are too inexpensive then it removes the incentive to reduce solid waste tonnage. All surrounding communities charge for PAYT bags in one form or another. The initial pricing of Carlisle’s PAYT bags would put us in the middle of the range (Westford $5, Concord $1.50). Westford’s property tax pays for curbside pickup and allows up to three bags per week without a fee, but residents pay $5 per additional bag. Concord curbside pickup, paid for by fees only, charges $1.50 for every bag, plus there is a $262 annual fee even if you dispose of only one bag. Littleton, MA, paid for by fees only, charges $2.75 per bag with no annual starter bags plus a $110 annual sticker fee. Carlisle should price the PAYT bags high enough to discourage use of our transfer station by non-residents and as solid waste disposal fees are increasing much more rapidly than inflation, the price should start on the higher side to avoid an immediate increase in the following year.
22. I don’t use any plastic bags for my solid waste. I just put it into a barrel. Can’t we use a tag or sticker instead?
Most PAYT towns use bags instead of stickers. Bags are easier to monitor than stickers that appear only on one side of a bag. Enforcing plastic bags also has the effect of keeping the transfer station much cleaner with less staff time devoted to picking up trash blown out of the compactors on windy days. You can use a PAYT bag in your container and then bring the bag to the Transfer station when it is full.
23. I have one of the three local private haulers bring my solid waste and recyclables to the transfer station. Will I continue to be able to rely on them?
PAYT provides Carlisle the opportunity to preserve Carlisle’s relationship with local private haulers. Lincoln, MA used to have 3 to 4 private haulers that were suspected of abusing their privilege of dumping solid waste on behalf of residents at the Lincoln transfer station. Lincoln does not have a PAYT program. As a result they were required to weigh their truck before and after dumping at the transfer station. The Lincoln transfer station doesn't have a scale so the private haulers had to drive to a scale and pay to get weighed. This quickly became so onerous that the private haulers stopped using the Lincoln transfer station and now are banned as a matter of policy. With PAYT, weighing private local haulers becomes unnecessary. PAYT provides an easy way to monitor local private haulers and make sure they are not taking advantage of the Carlisle transfer station.
24. I use a commercial hauler like Republic Services or Barry Brothers. Can I continue to use their services?
Yes, there is no requirement to use the Carlisle transfer station. Commercial haulers do not dispose of their solid waste at the Carlisle transfer station. As a result, PAYT bags are not required to dispose of solid waste with your commercial private hauler of choice. Currently a commercial private hauler costs approximately $528 per year.
25. I love the swap shed. Will it disappear when Carlisle goes to PAYT?
Many towns with PAYT programs still have a swap shed at their transfer station. When PAYT is implemented in a town with a swap shed, the bulky items that have a fee associated with them are no longer allow to be placed in the swap shed unless the fee is paid first. However all other items other than obvious solid waste are permitted in the swap shed. Remember that the swap shed is emptied after every open day. The transfer station staff recycles every item that can be recycled and the rest is put in to the solid waste compactor bound for the incinerator. If you want to be more certain that an item of yours is reused then listing it on City in the Woods, FreeCycle, CraigsList, eBay or taking it to organizations or reuse businesses like Acton’s Household Goods or Tables to Teapots could be a better bet.
26. How are we going to pay for the additional staff hours at the transfer station required by PAYT?
If Carlisle wants to keep the same hours, then yes, there will be increased staff costs. Right now Carlisle has 36 staff hours at the transfer station every week. PAYT requires two staff during open hours. This would increase our staff hours to 54. However Bolton, servicing more households (1800) than Carlisle uses only 32 staff hours per week for their transfer station. By limiting open hours of the Carlisle transfer station to 18 hours per week instead of the current 27 we can keep staff hours the same. A month long study with a motion activated camera will identify the hours of the least activity at the Carlisle transfer station.
27. I live at Village Court/Benfield Farms. Will I have to buy and use PAYT bags?
No, Village Court and Benfield Farms both use private commercial haulers, Waste Management and JRM Hauling and Recycling respectively, that do not bring solid waste to the Carlisle transfer station. The Town of Carlisle might consider not giving starter bags to residents of both those developments as they already pay out of their rent for solid waste disposal. The CHRC proposal for a zero cost dump sticker will help residents of Village Court recycle. There is no recycle receptacle provided by the Village Court management company. Under the current transfer station policy Village Court residents have to pay $25 annually to recycle at the transfer station.
28. I read in a recent Mosquito article (Where do Carlisle’s recyclables go?: Helen Lyons, Jan 16 2019) that our recyclables are processed at the Waste Management facility in Billerica. The Billerica facility is a single stream recycling facility that mixes source separated trash into the single stream materials. Why can’t we switch to more convenient/user friendly, single stream collection at the Transfer Station since it all gets mixed at the facility?
While Waste Management is a single stream facility, Carlisle gets a lower tipping fee because Carlisle produces a very “clean” recyclable stock which is a feature of source separated material and drop-off collection sites (versus curbside collection). At the moment CHRC does not know the magnitude of this financial benefit. As a result CHRC would like to gather input from the community and ascertain the financial consequence of going to single stream. With this information in hand the Board of Selectmen will be able to make a decision about whether or not to go to single stream for recycling that the whole community can support.
29. Where is Carlisle’s incinerator trash landfilled?
Peabody Ash Monofill, 0 Farm Ave, Peabody, MA 01960 at the intersection of Route 128 and Route 95. Peabody Ash Monofill is scheduled to close in 2024.
30. Do we have enough room at the Carlisle transfer station to do PAYT?
The Littleton, MA PAYT transfer station services 1,781 households in 46,500 square feet. Carlisle’s transfer station is 47,600 square feet.
31. How quickly does the 44% reduction in solid waste occur? In other words how long do I have to wait to see the benefit in reduced property taxes?
In 2009 Littleton disposed of 2186 tons of solid waste. They implemented PAYT on October 1st 2010. In 2010 they disposed of 1991 tons, approximately a 9% reduction for a year with 25% PAYT (3 months out of 12) or a 36% reduction if extrapolated for a full year. In 2011 they disposed of 1193 tons ( a 45% reduction) and in 2012 1214 tons (a 44% reduction). The PAYT incentive had its desired effect immediately.
32. What about an EZ-Pass transponder or license plate reading system to control access?
An electronic access control system would be much cheaper than a police detail covering the same hours, but would incur capital and ongoing maintenance costs. Also the system will break down on occasion and doesn’t have the flexibility of a human being to deal with unusual situations. Controlling access creates no incentive to reduce solid waste tonnage which is the central purpose of PAYT.
33. Isn’t having cameras recording license plates and transfer station stickers and PAYT bags going into the incinerator dumpster an invasion of privacy?
Not any more than EasyPass cameras. The cameras would help the staff at the transfer Station do their job. Carlisle is one of the smallest towns in population in our area of Massachusetts. As a result we don’t have the luxury of larger towns that have economies of scale. So Carlisle has to operate more efficiently than other towns to survive. Having cameras monitoring the critical drop off points at the transfer station unburdens the staff so they can focus on managing the operation of the transfer station, running the compactors, answering questions, swapping dumpsters, etc. If a staff person notices out of the corner of their eye that some prohibited activity is occurring they don’t have to drop what they are doing. At a later point they can review the camera recording and identify the individual involved and have them contacted at a later time with an explanation of how they need to modify their behavior. As waste and recycling disposal costs are rising, the facilities that accept these materials are ever more vigilant in looking for contamination. These facilities can levy charges and the MassDEP can levy fines if they discover excessive contamination. This has happened at least once to Carlisle where we were informed of excessive cardboard in our solid waste. The video recording system would provide a way to track back to the origin of such contamination so that we can correct the behavior.
34. Do I have to pay sales tax on PAYT bags?
No.
