By Suzanne Hodgson

Staff Writer

Yellow tags, green bags and recycling: Trashcollection can be complicated in Kennebunk.

Pay-As-You-Throw trash collection, also known asPAYT, has been in effect since 2000. However the program has accumulated a$97,509 deficit since it began.

Pending a town vote, the deficit will be paid withsurplus from previous town budgets, but as soon as the 10-year deficit is paidoff, a new deficit will begin racking up dollars, town officials say.

 PAYT’s financial problems stem from the difference betweenvolume and weight, according to Town Manager Barry Tibbetts and FinanceDirector Joel Downs.

While the prices of PAYT garbage bags or tags arebased on how many pounds the bags can hold,  residents who overstuff bags are undermining the program’sbottom line.

Green bags are sold for $2 and can hold up to 25pounds, but the actual bag is 33 gallons and can hold far more weight than whatis allowed.

Orange tags, sold for $27 for a pack of five, aresupposed to be tied around a large garbage can with a weight limit of around 40pounds.

A blue bag can hold 15 gallons and yellow tags areused for larger trash bags.

Tibbetts said some residents have told him theyactually stand on top of their garbage can to get the most packed inside.

With a tipping fee of $68.13 per ton, the town islosing money with overstuffed trash bags, so Tibbetts and Downs are trying tofigure out a way to translate tonnage costs to the amount of weight peoplestuff into garbage cans and trash bags.

“Put cat litter in there and you’re totally goingto blow our estimate, or if you use a trash compactor,” Tibbetts said. “Somevariables you’re never going to nail down, it’s always an educated guess.”

In residential areas, trash collectors are alertedto PAYT program participants by blue and green trash bags with the town namestamped across the front or with yellow and orange tags attached to large trashbags and cans.

Whatever color bag or tag, the maximum weightallowed is 60 pounds for any garbage can. Crews can leave cans unemptied if theweigh is exceeded. More often than not, Tibbetts said, every bag is picked up.

“If a driver feels looking at the thing that he can’tlift it, he does leave a note,” Tibbetts said.

The trash is hauled to Maine Energy Recovery Co.in Biddeford. Kennebunk signed a 25-year contract with MERC in 2004 with 13other communities.

Tibbett said many towns are looking to add thePAYT program. Neighboring communities that already have similar systems,including Ogunquit, Wells and Falmouth, have supplemented their deficitsthrough taxes.

The weight versus volume issue is not the onlyfactor that makes setting PAYT rates difficult, officials say. Other householdwaste management practices, including composting and buying products with lesspackaging material, affect how much material goes to MERC. Increases in MERC’sgarbage tipping fees also affect the program’s budget.

Improved recycling rates could reduce garbagetonnage and tipping fees, but there is no guaranteed formula to predict futurerecycling rates, according to Downs and Tibbetts.

“Pay-As-You-Throw improves your recycling rateanywhere from 25 to 50 percent. When towns go to it, recycling jumpstremendously. When we went to it, recycling jumped 15 to 20 percent and we hada good recycling program already in place,” Tibbetts said.

Until recently Kennebunk could offset the average$10,000 a year PAYT deficit with revenue from commercial trash picked up bysome trash haulers. Kennebunk billed each business for its portion of thetipping fee and an additional charge for the town’s paperwork.

However, competition between trash incineratorshas allowed some commercial trash collectors to shop for the lowest tippingfees. Incinerators that run low on trash may charge trash haulers 20 to 25percent less in tipping fees.

Selectmen will explore the maximum weight limitand PAYT’s deficit in May or June and consider changing language of the solidwaste and recycling ordinance, which dates back to 1993, Tibbetts said.

“We rebalance or take $10,000 out of surplus everyyear. Those are the kind of things selectmen will have to decide,” Tibbettssaid.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at282-4337, ext. 233.