Orange County NC Website
<br /> Comprehensive Review of <br /> S olid W aste Collection and Disposal Options <br /> <br />v2.1 121 10/22/12 <br />- Gains in the solid waste recycling ratio of 5 to 6 percentage points or 5 to 6% of <br />residential waste generation; <br />- Increases in yard waste diversion of about 4 to 5 percentage points; and, <br />- Source reduction of about 6% of generation. <br />For this module, a 17% reduction in waste was assumed from the implementation of PAYT. <br />Accordingly, recycling was assumed to increase 5.53%, yard waste diversion was assumed to <br />increase 5.53%, and source reduction was assumed to increase 5.95%. As seen in the data from <br />these communities, gains in each of these metrics are attributed to the customer recognizing their <br />disposal habits, once they are required to pay for these services, and diverting waste to <br />established recovery programs (i.e., recycling, yard waste, etc.) that they would have otherwise <br />thrown away at no cost. <br />8.2.5.2 Levels of Service <br />It is difficult to predict how many households will choose a particular level of service and often <br />households will change service levels as the program matures. Often the waste collections entity <br />(public or private) will allow one service-level change for “free,” and limit future changes to an <br />annual basis while charging a fee to do so. For this level of modeling, SCS has assumed that 900 <br />of the 11,500 Town households maintain a collections exemption and the remaining 10,600 <br />residential customers would choose the following levels of service: <br /> Percentage of customers choosing smaller can (i.e., 32-gallon): 10%. <br /> Percentage of customers choosing larger can (i.e., 96-gallon): 10%. <br /> The remaining 8,480 customers would select the base level of service (i.e., 64- <br />gallon). <br />These service-level assumptions can be changed in the Pro Forma module for additional <br />modeling scenarios. <br />8.2.5.3 Cart Costs <br />SCS assumed that the Town would be required to purchase additional carts for those residential <br />customers selecting an alternative level of service. For the purposes of modeling these scenarios, <br />SCS assumed that the new cart costs would average $50 per cart and would be amortized at 4% <br />for 7 years. Again, these baseline assumptions can be changed accordingly. <br />8.2.5.4 PAYT Coordinator <br />Communities that have implemented PAYT have often designated or hired a program <br />coordinator to: <br /> Communicate with the public (e.g., program publicity, community outreach, hearing <br />complaints, and coordinating subscription changes).