SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash) Waste Management Strategy Why New London Is Considering a SMART (Save Money and Reduce Trash) Waste Management Strategy • Due to the state’s current budget situation, New London is prudently reviewing all ways to save money, maximize efficiencies and continue to provide the same level of service. • Connecticut faces a solid waste crisis and the state expects tip costs to rise rapidly in the next decade: o Waste incinerators are rapidly running out of capacity. − 1/3 of all CT Trash goes to the aging South Meadows facility, the future of which is in doubt. − CT DEEP says that CT faces a possible “dire capacity gap” for MSW by 2024. − We may need to ship up to one-third of MSW out of state (1.23 million tons per year). • New London disposal costs are subsidized by SCRRRA. This regional subsidy has a limited life. The more we reduce waste the longer the subsidy will be available. • New London needs to move the dial on recycling: The State’s goal is a 60% recycling rate by 2024, and New London is at about 14% today. What Can New London Do to Reduce the Rising Cost of Waste • Eliminate City provided waste collection service totally, and ask residents and landlords to hire their own hauler for service. • Explore proven solutions, such as SMART programs for trash service How a SMART Program Would Work • Dispose of garbage in official New London trash bags, available at local retail outlets • Large bags will cost $1.00 each and tall kitchen trash bags will cost .60 cents each. • According to hundreds of communities with SMART programs the average home will only use about One 33 gallon bag per week. This would cost approximately $52 per year. • The purchase price of bags covers the cost of trash disposal at the incinerator. SMART shifts the actual disposal costs into the purchase of the bag so that residents pay as they go for the trash they generate. SMART turns trash into a utility (water, gas, electricity) • Recycling will NOT need to be placed in a special bag. Recycling will be set out at the curb as usual. • The average home will save money in a SMART program. Waste management is not free in New London. Residents pay for waste services through property taxes or rent. When the cost of waste goes up, the taxes must go up to cover that cost. Currently, the average home in New London spends about $247 on waste. In a SMART program the average home would spend only $159 through the taxes and approximately $52 through the purchase of official New London trash bags. • Purchase price of bags covers the cost of trash disposal. • Trash drops by 44% on average, and recycling rises because residents are motivated to throw away as little as possible • SMART allows people to control their own spending on garbage and frees those homes that recycle well from subsidizing their wasteful neighbors What a 44% Reduction in Trash Would Mean for New London • Trash would drop from almost 10,100 tons per year to about 5,660 tons per year • Our recycling rate would go from 14% to 38%. • The net financial benefit to New London would be $645,000 per year. Based on estimated rising costs the benefit would be over 8 Million dollars in the next 10 years. This savings can be shifted to other important services that they City may otherwise need to cut due to the budget constraints. • According to the EPA, the energy savings generated (because recyclable materials will be recovered and used in make new items, rather than having to use virgin materials) would be equivalent to o Taking 1,600 passenger cars off the road each year o Providing 8,600 solar panels to homes each year o Saving 1 million gallons of gasoline each year