At last night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Bouley brought forth a proposal that was approved by Council to temporarily suspend the use of Pay As You Throw (PAYT) purple trash bags starting next week, and running until one week after the expiration of the Governor's executive emergency orders. This means residents will no longer be required to use the purple bags for trash, but everyone is still required to place their trash in a garbage bag for pickup. The recycling program and bulk waste disposal will continue as normal. The purpose of this suspension is to help those who either can't afford the bags or don't want to leave the house to get them.
However, the city council is telling us that you may continue to use the purple bags during this suspension period if you're able to do so. This, along with recycling, will help keep costs down, because the volume of trash residents create is the main driver of cost. Without the PAYT program, we'd all be paying more in taxes for trash disposal. We don't know for how long the Governor's emergency may be extended, but a "worst case" scenario of projected revenue loss through the end of this year is approximately $160,000. This is because the amount of waste generated for disposal is anticipated to increase by as much as 30% with the PAYT program being suspended. Waste disposal has actually been reduced by 40% since the PAYT program started in July 2009.
This was also announced on the Concord City website, where further updates will be posted, as well.