[Adopted 8-20-1990 by Ord. No. 262-90]
The short title of this chapter shall be the "Murrysville Recycling
Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that manner.
The following words and phrases used throughout this chapter shall have
the following meanings:
The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of
1988.[1]
All empty aluminum beverage or food cans.
Empty food or beverage containers consisting of steel and aluminum.
Any entity or entities permitted by the Municipality to collect and
convey recyclable material and municipal waste for compensation within the
limits of the Municipality.
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial purposes
and multiple-dwelling residential buildings with central waste collection
systems provided by the owner or landlord.
Events that are sponsored by public or private agencies or individuals
that include but are not limited to fairs, bazaars, socials, picnics and organized
sporting events attended by 200 or more individuals per day.
Structural paper material with an inner core shaped in rigid parallel
furrows and ridges.
The Council of the Municipality of Murrysville.
Empty steel or tin-coated food or beverage containers.
Bottles and jars made of clear, green or brown glass. Expressly excluded
are noncontainer glass, plate glass, automotive glass, light bulbs, blue glass
and porcelain and ceramic products.
All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial,
institutional and municipal establishments and in residences.
Those facilities that house or serve groups of people, including
but not limited to hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, churches, day-care
centers, schools and universities.
Includes, but is not limited to, automotive, truck and industrial
batteries that contain lead.
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residues, chipped
shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including grass clippings.
Printed matter containing miscellaneous written pieces published
at fixed or varying intervals. Expressly excluded are all other paper products
of any nature whatsoever.
Any properties having more than one dwelling unit per structure for
which the owner, landlord or agent authorizes municipal waste collection services.
Properties with more than one unit per structure for which individual occupants
authorize municipal waste collection services are to be considered as residences.
Public facilities operated by the Municipality and other governmental
and quasi-governmental authorities.
The Municipality of Murrysville.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or other material, including
solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material, resulting from the
operation of residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments
and from community activities and any sludge not meeting the definition of
"residual waste" or "hazardous waste" in the Solid Waste Management Act[2] from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment
plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control facility. The term
does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
Paper of the type commonly referred to as "newsprint" and distributed
at fixed intervals, having printed thereon news and opinions, containing advertisements
and other matters of public interest. Expressly excluded are newspapers which
have been soiled, color comics, glossy advertising inserts and advertising
inserts printed in colors other than black and white often included with newspapers.
Owners, lessees and occupants of residences and commercial, municipal
and institutional establishments.
Empty plastic food and beverage containers. Due to the wide variety
of types of plastics, the Municipality may stipulate specific types of plastic
which may be recycled.
Materials generated by residences and commercial, municipal and institutional
establishments which are specified by the Municipality and can be separated
from municipal waste and returned to commerce to be reused as a resource in
the development of useful products. Recyclable materials may include but are
not necessarily limited to clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and
bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper, leaf
waste, plastics and any other items selected by the Municipality or specified
in future revisions to Act 101. The recyclable materials selected by the Municipality
may be revised from time to time as deemed necessary by the Municipality.
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of metals,
glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which would otherwise
be disposed or processed as municipal waste, or the mechanized separation
and treatment of municipal waste (other than through combustion) and creation
and recovery of reusable materials.
Any occupied single- or multifamily dwellings for which individual
occupants authorize municipal waste collection service.
Those materials separated at the point of origin for the purpose
of being recycled.
A material whose original purpose has been completed and which is
directed to a disposal or processing facility or is otherwise disposed. The
term does not include source-separated recyclable materials or material approved
by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources for beneficial use.
A.
The Municipality hereby establishes a recycling program
for the mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials and the
provision of separation, collection and composting of leaf waste from all
residences and all commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
located in the Municipality. Collection of the recycled materials shall be
made at least once per month by solid waste collectors operating in the Municipality
and permitted to collect recyclable materials from residences or from commercial,
municipal and institutional establishments. The recycling program shall also
contain a sustained public information and education program.
Disposal by persons of lead acid batteries with other municipal wastes
is prohibited and shall be a violation of this chapter.
A.
All persons who are residents of the Municipality shall
separate all of those recyclable materials designated by the Municipality
from all other municipal waste produced at their homes, apartments and other
residential establishments, shall store such materials for collection and
shall place the same for collection in accordance with the guidelines established
hereunder.
(1)
Persons in residences must separate recyclable materials
from other refuse. Recyclable materials shall be placed at the curbside in
containers provided by the Municipality for collection. Any containers provided
to residences for collection of recyclable materials shall be the property
of the Municipality and shall be used only for the collection of recyclable
materials. Any resident who moves within or from the Municipality shall be
responsible for returning the allocated container(s) to the Municipality at
the time no-lien letters are obtained from the Municipality or shall pay the
replacement cost of said container(s). Use of recycling containers for any
purpose other than the designated recycling program or use of the recycling
containers by any person other than the person allocated such container(s)
shall be a violation of this chapter.
(2)
An owner, landlord
or agent of an owner or landlord of a multifamily rental housing property
can comply with its recycling responsibilities by establishing a collection
system at each property. The collection system must include suitable containers
for collecting and sorting the recyclable materials, easily accessible locations
for the containers and written instructions to the occupants concerning the
use and availability of the collection system. Owners, landlords and agents
of owners or landlords who are in compliance with this chapter shall not be
liable for noncompliance of occupants of their buildings.
(3)
If recyclable materials are collected by a collector
other than the Municipality or its authorized agent, owners, landlords and
agents of owners or landlords shall submit an annual report to the Municipality
reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year. The
report shall be due at the Municipal Building by 5:00 p.m., prevailing time,
on the last business day in January.
B.
All persons must separate leaf waste from other municipal
waste generated at their houses, apartments and other residential establishments
for collection unless those persons have otherwise provided for composting
of leaf waste.
C.
Persons must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum,
corrugated paper, leaf waste and such other materials as may be designated
by the Municipality generated at commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
and from community activities and store the recyclable materials until collection.
A person may be exempted from this subsection if that person submits documentation
to the Municipality annually indicating that the designated recyclable materials
are being recycled in an appropriate manner. If recyclable materials are collected
by a collector other than the Municipality or its authorized agent, occupants
or agents of occupants of said establishments shall submit an annual report
to the Municipality reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during the
previous year. The report shall be due at the Municipal Building by 5:00 p.m.,
prevailing time, on the last business day in January.
A.
All owners of residences, or occupants in the case of residences occupied by other than the owner, and all owners, landlords or agents of multifamily rental housing property and of commercial, municipal and institutional establishments shall authorize the regular collection of municipal waste and recyclable materials by permitted collector from such properties, except as provided by § 182-9 of this chapter.
B.
Collectors shall collect municipal waste at least once
per week and recyclable materials at least once a month from each customer.
C.
Each collector shall submit an annual report to the Municipality
reporting the tonnage of material collected from residential customers and
recycled during the previous year. The report shall be due at the Municipal
Building by 5:00 p.m., prevailing time, on the last business day in January.
D.
Owners or landlords of multifamily residential housing
and of commercial, municipal and institutional establishments or collectors
or other serving as agents of the owners or landlords shall submit an annual
report to the Municipality reporting the tonnage of material collected from
such properties during the previous year. The report shall be due at the Municipal
Building by 5:00 p.m., prevailing time, on the last business day in January.
E.
Owners of unoccupied residences, multifamily rental housing
property and commercial, municipal and institutional establishments are not
required to authorize the regular collection of municipal waste and recyclable
materials from such property by a permitted collector if no municipal waste
and recyclable materials are present or otherwise generated on the property.
F.
Nothing in this chapter, however, excepts owners of property with the limits of the Municipality from complying with Chapter 120, Garbage, Rubbish and Refuse, Article I, Dumping and Collection, regulating garbage collection, as amended, or Chapter 137, Junk and Junkyards, regulating the operators of junkyards, as amended, and other applicable law, state and federal laws or regulations.
All recyclable materials placed by persons for collection by the Municipality or authorized collector pursuant to this chapter shall, from time of placement at the curb, become the property of the Municipality or the authorized collector, except as otherwise provided by § 182-9 of this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to impair the ownership of separated recyclable materials by the generator unless and until such materials are placed at the curbside for collection.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person, firm or corporation,
other than the Municipality or one authorized by the Council or other entity
responsible for providing for collection of recyclable materials, to collect
recyclable materials placed by residences or commercial, municipal and institutional
establishments for collection by the Municipality or an authorized collector,
unless such person, firm or corporation has prior written permission from
the occupant, owner or landlord or agent of the occupant, owner or landlord
to make such collection. In violation hereof, unauthorized collection from
one or more residences or commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
on one calendar day shall constitute a separate and distinct offense punishable
as hereinafter provided.
Any residence or commercial, municipal or institutional establishment
may donate or sell recyclable materials to any person, firm or corporation,
whether operating for profit or not, provided that the receiving person, firm
or corporation shall not collect such donated recyclable materials from the
collection point of a residence or commercial, municipal or institutional
establishment without prior written permission from the Chief Administrator
of the Municipality to make such a collection.
Disposal by persons of recyclable materials with wastes is prohibited
and shall be a violation of this chapter. The collected recyclable materials
shall be taken to a recycling facility. Disposal by collectors or operators
of recycling facilities of source-separated recyclable materials in landfills
or by burning in incinerators is prohibited unless markets do not exist and
the collectors or operators have notified the Chief Administrator of the Municipality
in writing.
A.
The Chief Administrator of the Municipality is hereby
authorized and directed to make reasonable rules and regulations[1] for the operation and enforcement of this chapter as deemed necessary,
including but not limited to:
(1)
Establishing recyclable materials to be separated for
collection and recycling by residences, and additional recyclable materials
to be separated by commercial, municipal and institutional establishments.
(2)
Establishing collection procedures for recyclable materials.
(3)
Establishing reporting procedures for the amount of materials
recycled.
(4)
Establishing procedures for the distribution, monitoring
and collection of recyclable containers.
(5)
Establishing procedures and rules for the collection
of leaf waste.
B.
Changes in rules and regulations shall be posted at the
Municipal Building, and notice shall be given to all affected parties by publication
10 days before the changes go into effect.
C.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate the
provisions of this chapter shall receive an official written warning of a
noncompliance, by personal service or certified United States mail, for the
first offense. Thereafter, all such violations shall be subject to the penalties
hereinafter provided.
D.
Except as hereinafter provided, any person, firm or corporation
who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not less then $25 not more than $300 and costs
of prosecution for each and every offense.
The Municipality may enter into an agreement(s) with public or private
agencies or firms to authorize them to collect all or part of the recyclable
materials from curbsides.
The Municipality may, from time to time, modify, add to or remove from the standards and regulations herein and as authorized in § 182-11.
