Golden’s expansion of its pay-as-you-throw trash collection has left some homeowners associations and apartment managers unsure how they will work it into their current contracts.

Pay-as-you-throw offers trash customers volume-based pricing so that they can choose to pay less for a small trash can or more for a larger one. A recycling bin is included, so the idea is that customers will recycle in order to avoid going over their chosen volume.

That incentive, however, is not the same at apartment complexes where everyone puts their trash in the same container and it is hard to track who throws away more.

“Our problem is that it really becomes the landlord educating the tenant,” on why they should recycle, said Nancy Burke, vice president of government affairs for the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. A representative of the association spoke against the program expansion at a Nov. 13 public hearing.

Residents of homeowners associations are often on the same contract, so splitting them up means added administrative work.

Jim Cringler, who manages the Village at Mountain Ridge homeowners association in Golden, said that will lead to an increase in cost. Read more: