costs are distributed more fairly among the population, and in proportion to the amount of waste each user generates. Free riders are no longer able to have their behavior subsidized, and PAYT is said to promote community sustainability. Lower-income families tend to produce less waste and thus pay lower waste collection fees. Diversion effects and risks Charging for waste often results in illegal dumping (also known as "fly-tipping") or the waste being passed to unlicensed or illegal disposal methods. Studies have found that unit pricing, which involves charging a set price per bag of garbage thrown out, contribute to illegal dumping. Although the intent of unit pricing is to encourage people to use other forms of waste disposal such as recycling and composting, people often turn to disposing of waste in unauthorized areas to save money. Municipalities in Massachusetts have typically observed a reduction in trash larger than the increase in recycling, but this is believed to be due to people formerly bringing in trash from other communities (where presumably there is no free pickup) to the homes of friends and relatives. Political opposition When there is a change to any established municipal service, public resistance is common. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recommends making PAYT programs revenue-neutral by reducing taxes at the same time as introducing trash fees so residents don't see the latter as a new cost. Implementation Urban communities usually offer curbside collection while rural communities provide drop-off collection service. Both the European Union and the US Environmental Protection Agency have published handbooks for introducing PAYT. North America PAYT programs operated in California, Michigan, New York and Washington as early as the 1970s, although The City of San Francisco “had practiced a kind of PAYT scheme since 1932.” By 2000, 6,000 communities in the U.S. (20%) and 200 in Canada had implemented user fees for waste management. In 2002 North Americans disposed of 24 million tonnes of waste, with residential sources accounting for 9.5 million tonnes. PAYT programs resulted in residential waste declining from 9 - 38% and increased recycling from 6 – 40%. Europe Austria was the first country to implement individual waste charging in 1945, but PAYT did not catch on until the 1980s when efficient and secure systems became available to account for usage of disposal services electronically. The first city in Europe to implement an electronic identification and billing system for waste