SANFORD — The increase in the cost of Sanford Pay As You Throw trash bags will begin on July 22, said Public Works Director Matthew Hill.

Changes in disposal fees for some services at Sanford Transfer Station have already gone into effect, Hill said Thursday.

The Sanford trash bag fee will change from the current $10 per sleeve to $13.50 per sleeve on July 22. There are 10, 8-gallon bags in a sleeve; 8, 15- gallon bags, or 5, 33-gallon bags per sleeve.

City officials say the PAYT bag increase is the first in six years.

The City Council voted to amend the city’s trash ordinances that addresses the amendments in June, following public hearings.

Among other  changes is a provision that prohibits commercial businesses from  disposing of recycled materials at the Sanford Transfer Station.

Since the city now has to pay $65 per ton to dispose of recycling at Ecomaine,  a change had to be made, Hill said.

Under the prior contract that expired on June 30, Ecomaine had accepted Sanford’s recycling at no cost, but scrapped the no-fee contracts for Sanford and other communities as they came up for renewal. Ecomaine began charging because markets for recycling have dried up and countries that previously accepted U.S. recycling are cracking down on the amount of contaminates, like plastic bags, that arrive in recycled materials.

At a recent City Council meeting, City Manager Steve Buck said costs for pick-up and disposal of municipal solid waste have also increased, and that, as well as the recycling jump to $65 a ton, contributed to the decision to make the fee changes.

In addition, Hill said, many commercial businesses in Sanford also do business elsewhere, and he found they were bringing recycling materials from outside Sanford to the transfer station, where, until the change was made, it was disposed of at no fee.

“We had no way to police it,” said Hill.

Commercial businesses may use the transfer station only for trash in PAYT bags. According to a news release issued earlier this week by the Public Works Department, businesses using the transfer station must have a current, $5 permit. As well, they must have a Waste Haulers License issued by the Sanford City Clerk’s Office. The fee for the Waste Haulers License is $500.

The amended ordinance provides a mechanism for those with multi-family dwellings of five units or more, mobile home parks or campgrounds to continue to take their tenants’ PAYT-bagged trash and recycling to the transfer station. The city does not provide curbside trash and recycling pick-up for multi-family dwellings of five or more units. A transfer station permit for these properties will cost $100 annually, according to the fee schedule.

The permit per vehicle for residential use of the transfer station is unchanged at $5 annually, Hill said.

Recently, there have been some quality issues with the PAYT bags.

“We are continuing to work with Waste Zero to improve the quality of the bags,” said Hill. “Any unused bags with quality issues can be brought to the Department of Public Works for exchange ”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.