Letter to the editor: About the Pay-Much-More-As-You-Throw trash program
Silverthorne
Disappointing. As more is understood about the new Summit County’s Pay-as-You-Throw trash edict (as being foisted on others by Waste Management trash service), the result is reduced service with huge price increases.
Keeping a 96-gallon trash container size results in over a 100% price increase:
- Current price: $55 per month (plus an $8 per month energy surcharge)
- New price: $117 per month (plus an unspecified energy surcharge)
Although our 96-gallon trash container is rarely filled, maintaining our current trash service cost requires changing from 96-gallon to a 32 gallon container at $45 per month. Downsizing to a 64 gallon container yields a 47% cost increase to $81 per month.
The container size really doesn’t govern the trash generated. It likely means storing trash until there is room in one’s smaller container or dumping it somewhere else.
Our recyclables are now taken to a recycle drop-off location; no discount is offered to continue this recycling method. Will Waste Management’s energy surcharge increase when they run their recycle collection truck weekly instead of every other week?
And if one can’t live with a smaller container, then incur a $115 charge for a container delivery/removal exchange. What a deal!
Thank you, Summit County Commissioners and others who championed/allowed this change. Your actions promoted a 100% price increase. Granted, “recycle” is now included, but the list of what can be recycled remains short and many of us currently take our recyclables to the recycle drop-offs. Will these recycle drop-offs be shuttered and turned into more (un-)affordable unoccupied government-funded housing units? Will the amount of trash generated be reduced? How much more illegal dumping will result? I hope every politician who supported this gets voted out of office and opens up their trash containers for overflow from my new $45 per month 32 gallon trash container.
UPDATE: Coroner identifies Blue River homicide victim
Summit County Coroner Amber Flenniken identified the victim as Breckenridge resident Jordan Labarre, 32.

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism
As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.
Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.