Montgomery County, PA

About the Waste Generation Fee

In 1999, The Waste System Authority of Eastern Montgomery County (“Authority”) split its Municipal Solid Waste (“MSW) tipping fee into two components: (1) Waste Generation Fee (“WGF”) and (2) Market Based Tipping Fee (“MBTF”). The WGF is billed to some residential and most commercial property owners and is based on a bi-annual study of MSW generated by residential and commercial properties in eastern Montgomery County. The MBTF is billed directly to haulers that dispose of certain municipalities’ curbside residential MSW and nearly all commercial MSW in eastern Montgomery County. In 2011, for example, the Authority’s tipping fee is $65/ton with the WGF component at $10/ton and the MBTF component at $55/ton. 

Regarding residential MSW, there are eighteen (18) municipalities that collect and dispose of their residents’ curbside MSW, and, in one case, commercial MSW. These municipalities are billed by the Authority for their residential MSW disposal at the 2011 tipping fee of $65/ton. For these participants, the WGF and MBTF do not apply. 

In the remaining four (4) municipalities that do not collect their residents’ curbside MSW, the residential property owner is billed the WGF component ($10/ton) and the hauler is billed the MBTF component ($55/ton) of the Authority’s tipping fee. 

In the case of commercial MSW, with the one municipal exception noted above, the commercial property owner is billed the WGF component ($10/ton) and the hauler is billed MBTF component ($55/ton) of the Authority’s tipping fee.  Depending on the preference of the participating municipality, the Authority either (1) bills the WGF directly to the property owner, or (2) bills the WGF through a municipal tax collector, who collects the fee and remits it to the Authority.  The WGF is a fee, not a tax, and is billed to tax-exempt properties including Federal, State, County, municipal authorities and local governments, churches, synagogues, school districts, colleges, private schools, charitable organizations, etc.  As defined in the bi-annual Waste Generation Study and in municipal waste hauling contracts in eastern Montgomery County, residential properties are four units or less. Buildings with five or more residential units are considered commercial properties.

What is the Waste Generation Fee and Why Do I Have to Pay It?

The Waste System Authority of Eastern Montgomery County (“WSA”), along with its 22 participating municipalities, makes best efforts to ensure delivery all of the municipal solid waste generated within eastern Montgomery County to the Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) located in Plymouth Township. Based on member municipalities waste delivery assurances, capacity at the RRF is reserved for all residential and commercial properties in eastern Montgomery County.  The WSA does not, however, provide a waste removal or pick up service.  The WSA is an independent municipal authority, which has the duty to collect a Waste Generation Fee (“WGF”) from property owners whose municipal solid waste is not collected by a participating municipality.  The WGF covers a portion of the cost of disposing your waste at the RRF and the Authority’s costs for administering the system. It is in addition to the fees you pay to your trash hauler. The calculation of your WGF is based upon the information provided by the Montgomery County Board of Assessment records regarding business activity conducted on your property and building size and upon waste industry information on waste generation rates for the various business activities. Another key factor used in calculating your annual WGF is the per ton cost of waste disposal. This cost to the Authority may vary from year to year.