NORTH READING — North Reading residents now have more flexibility in disposing of their weekly trash. Currently, as paid for in the quarterly trash fees, residents are allowed to dispose of their trash using no more than two trash barrels, each with a maximum capacity of 50 gallons and having no more than 40 pounds of trash in each container.
As of November 7, residents now have the ability to dispose of “overflow trash” that cannot be contained within their weekly two-barrel limit by purchasing “Pay-As-You-Throw” (PAYT) bags that are imprinted with the town seal and use these bags to dispose of the excess trash. There is no limit to the number of PAYT bags that you can use each week for Overflow Trash. PAYT trash bags can be put in a third trash barrel if you need to protect against animals getting into your trash or just left alongside your barrels.
PAYT trash bags are available for purchase at participating retail locations throughout town. Retailers that currently have PAYT overflow bags for sale include Christopher’s Market, CVS, Moynihan Lumber, Reading Lumber and Ryer’s Store. The cost of each PAYT “overflow” bag is $2.50 and they are sold in rolls of 10 for $25 per roll.
The list of retailers offering PAYT bags will be updated as new locations are added.
Please visit the town’s website at https://www.northreadingma.gov/recycling-and-solid-waste-division/pages/overflow-pay-you-throw-program to see a list of current retailers who offer the PAYT bags.
