EASTHAM – Officials in Eastham are now considering a proposal to enact a pay-as-you-throw disposal system throughout the town.
At a selectmen’s meeting earlier this month, Eastham’s Public Works Superintendent Neil Andres presented two options to the board.
The first would require residents to purchase a sticker allowing them to access the town’s transfer station as well as special, marked trash bags for the disposal of their garbage.
The second option would enlist a license plate reader to keep track of those entering the disposal facility and then charging a fee to the vehicle’s owner.
Selectman Aimee Eckman pointed out flaws in that plan, “Yesterday, I was there three times but I didn’t dump any trash,” she explained, “I went to the swap shop, I saw something in the metal pile, but I had to go home and get somebody to help me. I go there quite often, but I bring trash with a month.”
Critics at the meeting suggested that the second option could cause issues for those who visit the transfer station for other reasons, or to visit the town’s swap shop.
Eastham has received a nearly $50,000 grant from Barnstable County to further investigate their options.
Andres explained that this isn’t the first time that the town has looked into pay as you throw, “About four years ago looked at it,” he said.
“The general consensus of the board and the finance committee was that it didn’t make sense at that time, but we should look at that again because everything that DEP says it can help us save money.”
Six towns across the Cape and the islands already utilize a pay as you throw system including Brewster, Wellfleet, Sandwich, Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury, and Nantucket.
By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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