The Transfer Station Committee received mixed reviews from the Select Board when it presented its preliminary financial plan for the SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash) recycling program at a June 17 meeting. Although the committee showed that the town would likely save money on trash hauling costs, it admitted that the price of bags could drive the average household’s annual cost higher than it is now.
The SMART program, slated to begin in July 2019, would still require residents to buy an annual sticker to use the Transfer Station. Sticker revenues would be used to pay for the fixed costs of the facility, including staff and hauling recyclables. In addition, residents would be allowed to throw away trash only in official SMART trash bags, which they would purchase from vendors in town. Bag revenues would cover the cost of solid waste (nonrecycled trash) disposal.
Board of Health member Tom Philippou presented the committee’s proposed SMART pricing model for the town: $100 for an annual sticker, plus $2.50 per large bag (33 gallons) and $1.25 per small bag (15 gallons). Senior stickers would still cost $35, and seniors would receive 30 free small bags or 15 large bags each year. Recycle-only permits would be discontinued. For comparison purposes, an annual sticker currently costs $250. Under the SMART plan, $250 would buy a sticker plus either one large bag or two small bags per week as well as an additional 8 large bags or 16 small bags per year.
Free recycling disposal is a thing of the past
Philippou said the committee looked at many pricing models,and decided this one made the most sense for Harvard. The goal of the program is to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste, which would also lower the town’s disposal costs. According to the committee, the town should see a gain of about $50,000 by the end of the first year due to reduced solid waste hauling costs. The town currently pays $72 per ton for solid waste disposal, but that price will increase to $80 in July. Disposal of one ton of glass currently costs $30, paper disposal is free, and the cost of commingled plastic and cans is $72 a ton. Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart told the board that the town has a contract for solid waste hauling, so that price will remain steady over the next three years. However, he cautioned, the price of recyclable hauling could increase at any time. For instance, he said, the disposal price for commingled plastic and cans increased $42 a ton since December 2017 because the market for those recyclables is drying up.
Questioning pricing model
Select Board member Kara Minar questioned the pricing model when Irene Congdon, the committee’s adviser from the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the average household generated 1.5 large (or three small) bags of nonrecycled trash per week. Minar said that would come to $295 per year, $45 more than residents currently pay for an annual sticker with unlimited bags of trash. Board member Ken Swanton reminded her that the price of the bags residents currently buy should be deducted from the annual cost because they won’t need them anymore. An internet search showed that the average price of a 13-gallon tall kitchen trash bag was about 20 cents, which would lower the average resident’s annual SMART costs by about $30. But Kilhart said that even if the town did not move to SMART, sticker prices would likely increase next year because hauling costs went up this year and sticker prices did not. Philippou said the committee’s estimated annual cost savings to the town is likely a conservative number, and if the town’s savings are high enough after a few years of the SMART program, lower bag prices could be considered.
Too big a break for seniors?
Town Administrator Tim Bragan questioned keeping a reduced sticker rate for seniors, saying that $35 for a year of trash disposal was “so low it was ridiculous.” But Kilhart said he doubts the number of free bags the town is providing will see most seniors through the year, so their costs will likely increase under SMART. Philippou said the committee considered raising senior sticker prices, but didn’t want to create any animosity with the new program, adding that this is one of the few benefits the town offers its seniors.
Grant could help fund startup
The committee has applied for three grants that would help pay startup costs, as well as $7,500 toward an additional cardboard compactor, which Kilhart said would be needed with or without SMART. Funding for the compactor will likely be requested at a fall Special Town Meeting so that it can be installed in time for next summer’s switch to SMART. The committee will bring its final plan before the Select Board in February 2019 and conduct public information meetings in the spring. Stickers and bags will be available for sale in June 2019, with vendor locations still to be determined.
