PHOENIX, AZ – Once a week, the average Phoenix household closes the lid on a garbage can packed with 49 pounds of trash, according to The Arizona Republic. And as Phoenix grows, the costs of disposing of all that trash do too.

The city needs a new garbage truck and driver for every 1,850 additional homes it serves, at the cost of about $230,000 for a truck and $43,000 annually for a driver. An average of 8,751 houses have been added to collection routes each year since 2002, according to the Phoenix Public Works Department. In that same time, solid-waste operating costs grew from $75 million to $108 million, which included the opening of a new landfill and transfer station.

In an effort to reduce growing trash costs, the City is asking residents to throw away fewer items, which would prolong the life of landfills and cut down on resources used to manufacture and dispose of things that end up as trash.

If garbage is disposed of at its current rate, within eight to 10 years, there could be a mountain of garbage reaching 150 feet high and 60 to 100 feet below the surface.