Starting Jan. 1, New Hampshire will place a $3.50 per ton surcharge on all solid waste taken at any of the state鈥檚 six active landfills or its waste-to-energy facility. The surcharge was included in the state budget signed into law in June. The state plans to use the revenue to fund salaries for waste management officials at the Department of Environmental Services and to support grant projects focused on improving waste disposal infrastructure across the state. This type of surcharge is common in other states, including neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts.
The fee will be paid by municipalities, businesses, and other institutions, but New Hampshire towns and cities will receive a 100% quarterly rebate. Roughly 1.9 million tons of trash were disposed of in New Hampshire in 2022, according to the most recent data available from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
At $3.50 per ton, 1.9 million tons would鈥檝e generated roughly $6.7 million had the surcharge been in effect at the time, though some of that would鈥檝e been rebated to towns and cities.