Ben Tipton is looking for a more equitable and environmentally-conscious approach to Woolwich’s waste disposal.

“You would never ask your neighbor to pay for your electricity or fuel costs, so why should they pay for your trash,” Tipton said.

Tipton collected 120 signatures this winter, enough to convince selectmen to put a “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT) question on Woolwich’s May town warrant. Voters here rejected a PAYT initiative a few years back.

PAYT programs establish a method whereby disposal cost is linked to disposal volume. In most programs, residents must purchase and use specific bags for trash disposal. Bag sales defray municipal disposal costs.

The more trash you need to dispose of, the more bags you have to buy.

PAYT programs reward those who recycle and reduce their trash volume, and generally result in both decreased trash volume and more recycling.

The city of Bath, Woolwich’s neighbor across the Kennebec River, reportedly reduced its solid waste disposal by 60 percent after it instituted a PAYT program, with curbside pickup.

According to DEP’s website, 141 Maine towns had instituted PAYT programs as of October 2011.

This year’s question in Woolwich will not automatically institute PAYT if passed, as Tipton hoped, but will instead turn the matter over to the town’s solid waste and recycling committee. It will be the committee’s task to develop a proposal for voter approval.

Committee Chairman Fred Karhl said Tipton came to the committee a few months back to discuss the PAYT initiative. 

“We told Ben the committee needs to remain neutral on the measure, in case the town needs a study,” Karhl said, “If the warrant article is approved, it will require a serious development of facts.”

Currently, Woolwich has a contract with Pine Tree Waste for curbside trash and recycling pickup. Most of its trash ends up at the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company, in Orrington, for incineration. Town Administrator Lynette Eastman said this year’s town warrant includes $262,870 for Pine Tree’s waste collection.

Recycling is not mandated in Woolwich, but is actively encouraged by the solid waste committee and aided by twice monthly curbside pickup.

Although recycling has increased over the last few years, Karhl, Eastman and Tipton all agree that Woolwich could divert more of what ends up in trash into recycling.

“The town could be doing more recycling, and I am grateful for any that is being done,” Eastman said, “The more recycling, the more that is taken out of the trash stream, and that reduces our tipping costs.”

Tipton said he believes there is enough support for the warrant article to see it passed this year.

“It’s simple. If we don’t want to pay more, we have to throw away less,” he said, “This is the only proposal at town meeting that has the potential to lower costs.”