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PAYT Bulletin: Winter 1998

The PAYT Bulletin is designed to help solid waste planners and others get the latest pay-as-you-throw news and events. Use the links below to read articles from the Winter 1998 issue. To review other issues of the Bulletin, use the links on the right side of this page.

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PAYT Video Covers Key Issues

Do you have questions about how to implement a pay-as- you-throw (PAYT) program in your community? Look no further for many useful answers. EPA's new video provides a wealth of information on PAYT for residents, city officials, and other community members. The video presents useful insights in the words of local practitioners-those that have successfully gone through the PAYT experience.

The video is organized into two modules-one more technical than the other-which allows the video to speak to the diverse stakeholders involved in PAYT program design. The first module is a 15-minute overview describing what PAYT is and how it works. It is designed to facilitate discussions between Video planners and elected officials about how PAYT can help manage municipal solid waste. This module also can be used to introduce community members to the unit-based pricing concept and explain its benefits.

The second module runs for an hour and provides the viewer with information on the "nuts and bolts" of PAYT. It is divided into four parts-Getting Started, Operations, Economics and Rate Structure Design, and Program Results-each of which can stand alone as its own instructional unit. This module is geared for solid waste planners and covers community outreach strategies, illegal dumping, multifamily units, and setting a rate for your program.

"I wish such a tool had been around when we were designing our program. It would have been very helpful to us!"
- Ellen Ryan, city official, San Jose, California

Both modules present the experience of dozens of planners, elected officials, residents, and researchers from PAYT communities across the country and answer both basic and detailed questions about unit-based pricing. To order a free copy of this informative video, fax or mail in the order form found in this bulletin, order online at www.epa.gov/payt/order.htm, or call the PAYT Helpline at 888 EPA-PAYT.

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New and Improved PAYT Web Site

Pay-As-You-Throw Online (www.epa.gov/payt) has a new look and new information to go along with it. Surfers can browse a list of PAYT links, and obtain the updated list of cities and towns in the United States using PAYT. Other added features include the fall issue of the PAYT Bulletin, a site map, and an order form for PAYT publications and tools.

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Coming Soon: Help with Rates

Determining a rate for your PAYT program can be a challenge. A rate that is too high can cause community dissent, while a rate that is too low could create financial problems. Rate Structure Design: Setting Rates for a Pay-As-You-Throw Program is a new EPA handbook created to help local officials and others design a rate to strike the necessary balance. This publication will help you understand and work through the different approaches to developing a pricing structure for your PAYT program. Look to the next PAYT Bulletin for information on how to order this valuable tool.

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Source Reduction Planning Tools Available

EPA's manual, Source Reduction Program Potential Manual: A Planning Tool, and its companion software ReduceIt (EPA530-E-97-001) are available from EPA's NEPIS Web site.

The manual and software are designed to help solid waste managers evaluate the potential impact of various source reduction options on local solid waste programs. The manual allows users to calculate the potential of three residential programs (grasscycling, home composting, clothing reuse) and three commercial or industrial source reduction programs (office paper reduction, converting to multiuse pallets, paper towel reduction). The manual also provides worksheets and explains how managers can apply their own waste data to develop local estimates. The interactive ReduceIt software, a Windows-based (3.1 or later) application, offers an easy-to-use electronic version of the worksheets provided in the manual. These tools also guide users through steps to help estimate cost savings associated with implementing these source reduction programs.

Any questions regarding the use of these tools can be resolved by phoning EPA's toll-free message center at 888 249-8883.

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