What is Pay-As-You-Throw?

Pay-As-You-Throw programs (PAYT) for waste disposal are designed to create an economic incentive for individual households to reduce waste and recycle more. Simply put, the less you throw away, the less you pay for disposal. By recycling more of your waste, you will help preserve limited landfill space. Recycling more will mean fewer natural resources need to be extracted from the earth. This will also result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacturing of recyclable products.

PAYT programs are very similar to the way you pay for other utilities, such as natural gas, electricity and water. The more you consume, the higher the cost. It gives each household control of their trash bill. These programs are generally set up on a per container-basis, so households are charged for each bag or can of waste they generate. There are currently over 6,000 PAYT programs across the country, and more communities are implementing them every year.

Where and How it Applies

All residential waste haulers are required to utilize a PAYT program by Larimer County, the city of Fort Collins and Loveland.

Larimer County requires (Ordinance No. 1991-1Sec.4a) trash haulers to charge households based on a weight or volume based fee structure(s) designed to provide economic incentive for resource recovery and waste minimization. These charges must accurately reflect the actual amounts of waste generated by the customer.

Larimer County also requires haulers to make recycling available to all single-family residences within the urban growth area, to help reduce the amount thrown away. This ordinance applies to both Residential and Commercial waste customers.

Fort Collins (Article XV, Section 15) and Loveland (Chapter 7.16) Municipal Code require haulers to charge PAYT rates that set the rate for each measured unit (30-gallons) equal to or greater than the prior unit. In other words, the price for service increases 100% per additional 30 gallons of service. The cost of recycling and trash are bundled, so every customer may get both services for the same fee.

All three government entities require that residential waste haulers charge an additional fee for extra waste set out in addition to the household's subscription level of service.

View our service options to see which one best fits your household's needs. Remember, you can add unlimited recycling to most services at no additional charge in most areas or for a small fee that can easily offset the cost of increased services.