Greenbelt’s Save As You Throw Program is already reducing trash. Like many jurisdictions, The
City of Greenbelt was facing higher collection costs, rising landfill tipping fees, and a sanitation fee that had not kept pace with expenses. Instead of simply raising a flat fee for everyone, the City chose a model designed around fairness: households that generate less trash should have a way to pay less. Since it's launch in January, the
Save As You Throw (SAYT) program has had stellar results.
How does it work? Under the program, residents pay for trash based on how much they throw away. Instead of buying regular name-brand trash bags, they purchase official municipal bags, so each household pays for what it uses rather than sharing costs equally across the community. Revenue from bag sales helps cover landfill tipping fees and other waste services. Residents can opt-out and pay the maximum (MaxTrash) fee.
Early results show a 17% drop in residential trash disposal, an 8% increase in recycling, and contamination rates that remained below the regional average.
We wanted to know more so on July 16, leaders from the
City of Greenbelt and
WasteZero joined us online to share the ins and outs of the program including how they built support for the program, the lessons learned along the way, and practical takeaways communities can use.
Check out the recording along with key takeaways.