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SMART BET Calculator
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Download the SMART BET Calculator in Microsoft Excel format (Excel, 3.79 MB)
SMART BET (Saving Money and Reducing Trash Benefit Evaluation Tool) is designed to help community waste managers decide whether unit-based pricing for solid waste management (also known as Pay-As-You-Throw or PAYT) is the right model for their town or city. To use this tool, you must have Excel security set to allow macros. For more information on how to change security settings, see the instructions page.
In communities with SMART programs, residents are charged for the collection of municipal solid waste—ordinary household trash—based on the amount they throw away. This creates a direct economic incentive to recycle more and to generate less waste. Traditionally, residents pay for waste collection through property taxes or a fixed fee, regardless of how much-or how little-trash they generate. SMART breaks with tradition by treating trash services just like electricity, gas, and other utilities. Households pay a variable rate depending on the amount of service they use.
Most communities with SMART charge residents a fee for each bag or can of waste they generate. In a small number of communities, residents are billed based on the weight of their trash. Either way, these programs are simple and fair. The less individuals throw away, the less they pay, which is inherently more equitable than a one-size-fits-all model.
EPA endorses this approach to solid waste management, as it has proven to be the single most effective way to reduce residential solid waste, increase recycling, and decrease waste-related greenhouse gas emissions.
Communities that implement SMART typically see a decrease in overall solid waste production, with a final disposal (i.e., landfilling/combustion) rate of 400 to 600 pounds per person per year,* with associated increases in recycling and source reduction of waste (compared to the national average rate of disposal of 1,124 lbs per person). Well-designed programs generate the revenues communities need to cover their solid waste costs, including the costs of such complementary programs as recycling and composting. Residents benefit economically too, because they have the opportunity to take control of their trash bills.
SMART BET allows users to input readily available information, such as tons of waste landfilled and recycled annually, local population, and landfill tip fees. The user may also provide a more detailed breakdown of the disposal and recycling streams, if this information is available. The tool then combines this information with nationwide average waste disposal data, typical PAYT results, and greenhouse gas emission factors originally created for EPA's Waste Reduction Model (WARM) to provide the greenhouse gas and cost savings that your community is likely to see after implementation of SMART.
SMART BET allows users, i.e., community waste managers, to input readily available information, such as tons of waste landfilled and recycled annually, local population, and landfill tip fees. The user may also provide a more detailed breakdown of the disposal and recycling streams, if this information is available. The tool then combines this information with nationwide average waste disposal data, typical SMART results, and greenhouse gas emission factors originally created for EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) to provide the greenhouse gas and cost savings that your community is likely to see after implementation of PAYT.
* Brown, Kristen. "The Tide Is Turning", 2008. Resource Recycling, p. 23. This tool assumes a final disposal rate of 500 lbs. per capita annually.
