Report: Stricter penalties, free drop-off part of solving Worcester’s trash problem

Full and original article posted on Worcester Magazine

Worcester should not trash its Pay As You Throw trash collection model and, no, a return to the days of pigs eating the city’s garbage is probably not the way to go. Instead, as the city struggled to clean up its streets and sidewalks, and deal with illegal dumping, more stringent penalties for violators could help. A free trash drop-off site might also boost compliance.

That’s the word from The Research Bureau in is latest brief, “Trash, Recycling and Yard Waste Removal.”

The Bureau also addresses recycling, and the persistent problem of materials spilling out onto sidewalks and blowing around streets on windy days, giving a plug to the use of clear plastic bags. Open bins have proved problematic, and the implementation of larger, closed-top bins has been criticized as too expensive and not a good fit for a city of hills such as Worcester.

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