"There'll be an uprising in the Northeast, I can tell you that," said Mary Jane Hazell, president of the Somerton Civic Association. "I love Mayor Nutter. I think he's a great guy. I just don't think [this will work]."
Budget Director Steve Agostini stressed that officials are only in the preliminary stages of looking into such a program, which is included in the city's five-year budget plan.
"We had a discussion about it early, which is why it's reflected [in the plan]," Agostini said. "We're trying to get some information nationally. We're trying to get to know what people are doing - would it make sense here?"
In Philly, just 8 percent of residential trash is recycled, compared with a national average of 18 percent.
The city is already trying to boost its low residential-recycling rate. Just this week, officials announced that single-stream recycling, in which plastic, metal, glass and paper don't have to be separated, is now available citywide. And they plan to have weekly recycling collection within a year. Many parts of the city are now on an every-other-week schedule.
"I think the number-one benefit of fees for trash removal is it makes people think twice before they toss something out," said Janet Larsen, the director of research for the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit environmental-research organization.
David Biddle, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Coalition, said that paying for trash collection is common.
"People pay for their trash services all over the country," he said. "It's really only the large cities that struggle with the concept."
Seattle is home to the nation's oldest pay-per-trash program, since the 1980s charging residents based on their amount of trash.
Residents pay by the size of their trash can or cans. For example, they pay $17.65 per month for a 32-gallon can or $35.30 for a 62-gallon can. If you put out an additional bag, you're charged extra.
