Members of the Transfer Station Recycling Advisory Committee, known as TRAC, discussed the potential benefits of bringing a unit-based pricing system to Sharon and Salisbury鈥檚 waste management programs. TRAC Chair Barbara Bettigole said that the new system could help achieve the group鈥檚 mission statement: 鈥淥ur charge as a Committee is reducing the amount of waste we produce and increasing the efficiency of recycling,鈥� she said.
Bettigole noted that other towns in Connecticut have used unit-based pricing, also known as 鈥減ay as you throw,鈥� alongside large scale composting operations to reduce refuse output. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 made the biggest impact on waste reduction.鈥�
Brian Bartram, longtime manager of the Salisbury/Sharon Transfer Station, said that unit-based pricing offers residents 鈥渕ore control over what they鈥檙e paying to get rid of their garbage.鈥� He qualified, however, that the current system has been controversial as larger households that produce more waste are benefited by the fixed, yearly price that enables them to discard as much trash as they like.