Dive Brief:

• Lafayette, Louisiana residents will now face fines if they have not formally signed up for trash collection. Residents who leave their waste bins on the curb for longer that 24 hours will also be fined.
• The City-Parish Council voted to change the laws, who, prior to these changes, had to file individual lawsuits against each offender who had not paid fees.
• Fines will be imposed at a rate of $50 per week, capped at $200 for refusing to sign up for service. Leaving waste bins on the curb will result in a $25 fine, capped at $100. The added fees will be handled by Allied Waste.​

Dive Insight:

A large percentage of the community have not been paying for services and it is estimated that 1,200 households out of 16,500 in the parish have not signed up for collection.