The City of Toronto is mulling the idea of reducing waste by making residents who produce more garbage pay a heftier price.

Under the plan, waste collection costs would be eliminated from the property tax system and replaced instead with a flat annual fee based on the amount of garbage a household produces.

The city hopes such a trash levy would provide people with an incentive to produce less garbage and recycle more.

"If you think of it like water, right now you have a separate charge for water; the idea would be you'd have a separate charge for garbage, and that's for your basic service," Mayor David Miller explained Tuesday.

The idea is based on a successful program in San Francisco, where the city provides three sizes of bins. 

Miller said those choosing the smallest bin would pay nothing or pay a small amount that would later be reduced from their property taxes.

For the two larger containers, owners would see their trash tax rise accordingly, though he didn't specify the amount.

City officials, however, estimate the levy could add up to several hundred dollars a year for each household and would be paid as a flat annual fee.

There would be no charge for recyclable products tossed in the city's green or blue bins.

Miller is expected to support some version of the idea, since one of his re-election promises last fall was to divert 70 per cent of garbage from landfills by 2010. Diversion rates for the city now stand at 42 per cent.

Sometime in the next few months, the city will put forward a comprehensive plan on how Toronto plans to reach that ambitious target, a plan that is expected to include mention of a trash levy.