Opinion: Pay As You Throw

Denver’s New Monthly Trash Fee An Incentive To Recycle

By Madeleine Senger

For the GPHN

On June 27, the Denver City Council voted 8-5 to pass a new “pay as you throw” garbage ordinance, proposed by Councilwoman Robin Kneich. Starting next year, Denver will now charge a fee based on the size of the trash can that homeowners pick: $9 per month for a small can, $13 per month for a medium can, and $21 per month for a large can.

Although there’s a fee for trash, recycling will now be collected weekly and composting will be free. The goal of this new ordinance is to encourage recycling and composting in order to make Denver more sustainable and help address climate change.

While most of the testimony before the city council was in support of the proposal, some residents expressed concern about paying the fee given their limited incomes. However, the city council’s measure addresses this through a rebate based on household income. For instance, households making 30 percent or lower of the area median income won’t have to pay the fee and households making 50 percent to 60 percent would receive a 50 percent rebate.

Denver collects over 220,000 tons of waste (or an average of 1.2 tons per home) each year. The ordinance will not only make recycling and composting easier, but will encourage residents to rethink filling up their trash cans and adding to the landfill. An increase in landfill trash adds more methane to the environment, contributing to climate change.

According to the EPA, “Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.5 percent of these emissions in 2020.”

The new fees are intended to encourage residents to recycle and compost, since the fees are a disincentive to throw away trash.

Councilman Chris Herndon, whose district includes Park Hill, opposed the measure and instead wanted to make composting free and have stronger education and outreach teams. Arguing against Councilman Herndon, Councilwoman Robin Kniech said that multiple studies show that financial incentives are necessary to make change. “Economic incentives motivate more behavior change than education.”

Without action, climate change will have a greater impact on the Earth and will affect the future of humanity. Climate change increases global temperatures, which leads to more wildfires, droughts, glaciers and ice melting at a faster rate, ocean levels rising, and oceans warming.

Climate change not only affects the environment, but also human health. People living in low-income communities are more affected because they live near factories and have fewer resources, and more diseases occur such as heat strokes and waterborne diseases.

I testified before the city council when they considered this ordinance. As a young person I support this proposal because not only will climate change affect my generation, but future generations to come.

At the end of Councilwoman Kniech’s comments, prior to the vote, she quoted Greta Thunberg, and so will I: “Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.”

Madeleine Senger is a rising sophomore at East High School and has a strong interest in climate change and the environment. She’s looking forward to being in East High Jazz Combo next year.