Can Pay As You Throw Keep Georgia From Throwing Away Its Future

1
Can Pay As You Throw Keep Georgia From Throwing
Away Its Future?
By Daniel McKinley- Environmental Economics
University of Georgia Chris McClure-
Environmental Economics University of Georgia
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Our Current Problem.
Source EPA

• Ga.s per capita Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) up
  16
• Georgia needs a plan to reduce its waste
  generation

3
Our Current Problem.

• Most people in Ga. Are under a flat fee system.
• Why reduce your waste when any amount is already
  paid for?
• We need a system that encourages reducing waste.

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Marginal Vs. Average Cost
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Pay As You Throw (PAYT) Causes A Reduction In
Waste Generation

• PAYT is a marginal cost pricing system
• Households pay certain amount per unit of trash
• So, the more trash put out, the more they pay
• Creates an incentive to reduce amount of trash
  produced.
• But what happens when landfills start to fill up?
• Once MC in place, rates can be raised accordingly

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Source DCA
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Pay As You Throw Causes A Reduction In Waste
Generation

• Columbus and Daltons rates are higher than
  state average and PAYT municipalities
• Marietta and Athens have much lower rates and
  PAYT programs.
• The presence of a PAYT program correlates to
  lower rates of waste generation.

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Areas With PAYT Will Have A Higher Recycling Rate

• Recycling is well-known as a good thing to do
• However, there was never much real incentive
• PAYT creates an economic incentive to reduce
  waste
• An obvious way to reduce waste is to recycle.

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Recycling Rates Vs. PAYT
Source EPA
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Hypothesis Two

• As the number of PAYT programs increases, so do
  recycling programs

Source EPA
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Conclusion

• Humanity has always struggled with waste
• Marginal Cost Pricing is no Magic Bullet, BUT
• PAYT does improve things by getting people to
  change
• Behavior Less resources wasted as
  trash Thinking More thought given to waste
• Success depends on how that progress is built on

The End!