Goal Setting

For communities considering a pay-as-you-throw program, setting goals is an essential part of the planning process. Establishing realistic goals and priorities at the outset provides solid waste planners with guidelines they can use when deciding between different program design options.

Success in solid waste management can be measured against standards as varied as recycling diversion rates, total costs, and customer satisfaction. For this reason, the first step when planning for pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) is to determine the goals of your program based on a review of your community's solid waste needs and concerns. Although planners will want to solicit input from local residents and other interested parties before coming up with a final list of goals, it is useful to first examine and prioritize objectives internally. Some planners conduct in-house brainstorming sessions to establish a preliminary set of goals, followed by a shorter session to revisit, refine, and prioritize them.

Specific goals and objectives can vary significantly among communities. Examples include:

Environmental goals. Communities often implement PAYT to encourage greater waste reduction, recycling, and composting. According to recent research (summarized in the Fall 1997 PAYT Bulletin), households generated between 14 and 17 percent less waste, on average, in the first year of PAYT then they had in the year prior to program implementation. The amount recycled also increased by an average of between 32 and 59 percent. The type of rate structure a community chooses will have a strong influence on the extent of the waste reduction incentive.
Economic goals. PAYT can be designed to bring in enough revenue to cover all or some of a community's solid waste fixed and variable costs. Variable costs, such as landfill tipping fees, are expenses that fluctuate with changes in the amount of solid waste collected. Fixed costs are those that remain fairly stable or that change only after large-scale waste collection changes are made (such as increasing the number of collection trucks). Communities that rank this goal as very important will need to develop their rate structures carefully. Some may wish to generate revenues beyond the amount needed to pay their solid waste program costs. The additional funds might then be used to enforce laws against illegal diversion (dumping or burning), implement or expand recycling and other complementary programs, or meet other waste management goals.
Greater equity. Under traditional waste management financing, residents who discard a small amount of waste subsidize the greater trash disposal rates of their neighbors. Under PAYT, residents are charged only for the amount of waste they actually discard. This gives them more control over the amount of money they pay for waste management.
Legal issues. In many communities, interest in PAYT stems from the need to meet state or local recycling mandates.
Waste management issues. In recent years, the rapid escalation of costs for refuse collection and disposal has acted as a catalyst for changes in solid waste management. PAYT provides a strong incentive for households to reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal. When trash amounts decline, communities have the opportunity to restructure their collection programs to reduce the frequency and timing of trips per week. This translates into potential savings in terms of labor, fuel, equipment, maintenance, and overhead costs. Less waste also prolongs the life of existing landfills.

[Photo of Bullseye] Achieving every objective on a community's list can be difficult. That's why prioritizing goals is essential. Establishing priorities will allow planners to evaluate how different program components and service options will affect the overall success of their PAYT initiative. In addition, meeting key goals requires a careful consideration of potential tradeoffs. Circumstances may require compromise in one area in exchange for progress in another.

Once a list of preliminary goals has been established, consider setting up a PAYT team or citizens' advisory council to help refine and prioritize these goals. The team might include solid waste staff, interested citizens and elected officials, civic leaders, and representatives from affected businesses in the community. These teams can be an important part of building consensus for your program. Including a wide range of individuals and interests in the planning process can help give the community a sense of program ownership. It also can provide a built-in education and outreach network, increasing the variety of ways in which information about your program can be disseminated and feedback received.

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Additional resources

For help in prioritizing goals and identifying issues that stakeholders may want addressed, go to the goal-setting worksheet (Worksheet 1 in the set of seven worksheets (PDF) (21 pp, 331K, about PDF) in the Pay-As-You-Throw Tool Kit.

For answers to questions about setting goals for a PAYT program, visit goal setting in the Frequent Questions section of this Web site.

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