PORTLAND, Maine — As of July 1st, the prices of Portland city trash bags are now a little higher. The price of a 15-gallon bag is 15 cents higher at $1.50 per bag. 30-gallon bags cost 30 cents more at 3 dollars a bag. The city says it's because of an increase in what are called "tipping fees" on recyclables and trash to Eco Maine.
"The recycling per ton fee went up from zero to thirty-five dollars a ton, primarily due to the down recycling markets I think everyone has heard about particularly with the closure of most recycled paper going into China," said Department of Public Works Chris Branch.
Portland Food Co-op general manager John Crane says people have been preparing for the price increase.
"We've sold a lot of bags over the last week or two, as people knew this fee was coming in. I think those who were able to stock up a little bit.
The price of city bags can be a hassle for places like the Portland Food Co-op. Cashiers hide them under their cash registers because the bags are prone to be shoplifted.
But some people, Crane says don't use the bags at all. They dump their stuff illegally.
"We struggle with that here at the store. People using our dumpsters out back. We keep them locked down because if we leave them unlocked, we find household trash in there," Crane says.
Chris Branch says he's not surprised. He tells me the city has had a dumping problem since they put bag fees in place years ago.
"We get people who take white trash bags with trash in them, put them in the recycling bin, cover them up with newspaper and cardboard so you don't think you see them. But when we run into that, we hit them with a notice that says you have a contaminated load and if we see it before we dump it, we won't pick it up. If it happens again and continues to happen, we stop collection," Branch said.
Branch says its high time to increase the price of the bags.
"We went five years with no increase and we've had considerable increases in labor cost and other costs that in operation. So going five years without having a fee increase is pretty good. That averages out to an increase of about 3 cents year. So that's really not a lot."