Landfill space has become a major nationwide crisis, and traditional 'technical' solutions are running into difficulties related to siting, funding, environmental concerns, and public pressure for alternatives. Many jurisdictions across the country -- large, small, rural, and urban -- are looking for methods to reduce the amount of waste going to disposal sites. The manual describes a less-traditional alternative - - charging user fees via variable rates for solid waste collection and disposal service. Variable can rates or bag/tag systems offer a number of advantages over traditional solid waste funding mechanisms: they are fair, effective, and give customers control over the bill; they provide excellent incentives for waste reduction and recycling and integrate well with programs; they can lead to system savings; they can be implemented far more quickly than capital investments; and they can be implemented in a variety of types of jurisdictions and situations. Systems of this type have been implemented in a number of communities and have proved very effective. The manual is divided into several parts, and gives detailed descriptions covering (1) determining the feasibility of the change; (2) evaluation of rate design options; (3) steps to conduct a rates analysis/rate study; (4) operational changes and implementation needs and timeliness; and (5) case studies and references.