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Resident urges Renton to pilot pay-by-weight "Smart Disposal" system
Summary
A remote commenter asked the council to study a pilot weighing household refuse and adjust billing to charge residents based on disposal weight rather than container size, proposing a $50,000 proof-of-concept.
A Renton resident speaking remotely asked the City Council to study a pilot that would weigh residential refuse at the curb and bill customers based on the weight of material collected, rather than by container size.
The speaker, identified in the record as Baldwin, described a proposal called "Smart Disposal" that he said would cost about $50,000 for a proof-of-concept study. "This approach is completely embarrassed," Baldwin said of the current container-size billing system, adding that weighing each container would provide fairness and create incentives to recycle and compost.
Baldwin said the pilot would use scales on collection vehicles to record per-pickup weight and provide households with feedback on their landfill-diversion rates. He recommended a proof-of-concept to demonstrate feasibility and suggested that the system could be implemented without extra work by collection crews.
The comment was made during the public-comment segment; there was no committee or council action on the proposal that evening. The speaker provided a project plan and handouts to the council but requested only that the council consider a study of feasibility and a pilot project.
