The Town of Hempstead finds that:
A. The Town of Hempstead is the accepted planning unit for the development
of a Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) and a Comprehensive Recycling
Analysis (CRA) required by the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation in connection with permits to accept solid waste at the
Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility (HRRF) or a Town solid waste
transfer station.
B. The Town has identified residential, multiresidential complexes and
commercial recyclables to be separated from the waste stream. Independent
sanitary districts and incorporated villages which are part of the
Town SWMP and CRA should adopt recycling laws and/or practices compatible
with the Town regulations set forth in this Article.
C. Based on existing markets for alternate uses, the Town has identified
newspapers, glass bottles and jars, metal food and beverage containers,
plastic food and household products, high-density polyethylenes and
polyethylene terephthalate containers, yard waste, metal objects and
construction and demolition debris as reusable or recyclable products
that must be separated from all Town solid waste. Cardboard and office
paper have been additionally identified for commercial recycling.
D. Independent sanitary districts and incorporated villages located
within the geographical boundaries of the Town should adopt or implement
similar laws or regulations to comply with this Article and New York
State Law.
E. All provisions of this Article or regulations hereunder shall be
consistent with standards established pursuant to the New York State
Environmental Conservation Law.
F. The Town will accept and market all recyclables material, except
yard waste and construction and demolition debris from independent
sanitary districts and incorporated villages upon the execution of
an intermunicipal agreement between the Town of Hempstead and the
governing body of each entity.
G. Commercial establishments who elect not to participate in a curbside
recycling collection program in Town Solid Waste Collection Districts
Nos. 3, 4 and 5 must collect and market their own recyclables.
H. By enacting this Article
VI, the Town Board confers upon the Commissioner the power to adopt regulations which will implement this Article and any municipal recycling agreement to further the goals of this Article and to determine, from time to time, when economic markets for alternate use for materials hereunder identified and other recyclable products exist.
As used in this Article, the following words or phrases shall
have the meanings annexed to each:
BULKY WASTE
Furniture (other than metal), mattresses, carpeting, heavy
lumber, logs in excess of six inches in diameter weighing less than
75 pounds and measuring less than four feet in length and similar
burnables. Tires and car batteries are excluded from collection.
CANS
Containers comprised of aluminum, tin, steel or a combination
thereof which contain or formerly contained only food and/or beverage
substances.
CARDBOARD
All corrugated cardboard normally used for packing, mailing,
shipping or containerizing goods, merchandise or other material, but
shall not mean wax-coated or soiled cardboard.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS
Bricks, concrete and other masonry materials, soil, rock,
wood, wall coverings, plaster, drywall, plumbing fixtures, nonasbestos
insulation, roofing shingles, asphaltic pavement, glass mirrors, windows,
housewares, etc., electric wiring and components and metal that is
incidental to any of the above.
ECONOMIC MARKETS FOR ALTERNATE USES
Those markets that exist when the full avoided costs of proper
collection, transportation and disposal of source-separated materials
are equal to or greater than the costs of collection, transportation
and sale of said materials less the amount received from the sale
of said materials.
GLASS
Includes all clear (flint), green and brown (amber) colored
glass containers.
METAL RECYCLABLES
Includes but are not limited to major appliances, steel file
cabinets, hot-water heaters, water storage tanks, steel doors and
windows, water softeners, oil storage tanks, lawnmowers, snowblowers,
bicycles, metal bedsprings, furnaces, metal furniture and small metal
appliances, tools and utensils. Propane tanks are excluded from "metal
recyclables" as defined herein.
MULTIRESIDENTIAL COMPLEX
Four or more residential units located on a single property
or continuous properties under common ownership, control or management.
For this purpose, "residential unit" shall mean an enclosed space
consisting of one or more rooms designed for use as a separate residence,
and shall include, but not be limited to, an apartment, condominium
unit, townhouse cooperative unit, mobile home, living unit in a group
home and room or set of rooms in a boardinghouse, but shall not include
rooms within a single-family residence, motel or hotel.
NEWSPAPER
Includes newsprint and all newspapers and newspaper advertisements,
supplements, comics and enclosures.
OFFICE PAPER
All high-grade office paper, fine paper, bond paper, xerographic
paper, mimeo paper, duplication paper, school paper, junk mail, computer
paper, but shall not mean newspaper, was paper, plastic- or foil-coated
paper, styrofoam wax-coated food and beverage containers, carbon paper,
blueprint paper, food-contaminated paper, soiled paper and cardboard.
PLASTIC CONTAINERS
Containers composed of high-density polyethylenes, polyethylene
terephthalate or other specific plastics as the Commissioner may designate
which contain or formerly contained only food and/or beverage and/or
household substances.
RECYCLABLE MATERIAL
Includes newspapers, glass bottles and jars, metal food and
beverage cans, plastic food and household product containers made
from high-density polyethylenes or polyethylene terephthalate plastics,
yard waste, metal recyclables, construction and demolition debris
and shall further include office paper and cardboard generated from
a commercial establishment. In addition to these materials, the Commissioner
may determine a material to be recyclable for which there are economic
markets for alternate uses.
RECYCLING CENTER
Any facility designated and operated solely for the receiving
and storing of source- or post-separated designated recyclable materials.
SOURCE-SEPARATE
To separate recyclable materials from the solid waste stream
at the point of waste generation.
YARD WASTE
Grass clippings, leaves, bundles of twigs or branches, brush,
tree trunks, logs, stumps, all up to six inches in diameter, natural
holiday trees and wreaths and other general tree and yard or garden
waste.
In addition to the regulations for recycling at residential
premises, the following regulations shall also apply to multiresidential
complexes:
A. The Department of Sanitation shall survey each multiresidential complex
and determine the best method of storage, collection and removal of
recyclables.
B. The Commissioner shall be empowered to declare that because of size,
configuration or physical layout, a central storage area for collection
must be established at a location approved by the Commissioner.
C. The Commissioner may direct that large appropriately colored plastic
containers or commercial-type containers be used for the storage and
collection of recyclables. These containers will be supplied by the
owner and must be compatible with Department collection equipment.
D. Curbside collection will be required unless otherwise approved by
the Commissioner.
E. The Commissioner is empowered to designate the day of the week or
scheduled date on which recyclables shall be collected.
Nothing in this Article shall be construed as preventing any
person from utilizing yard waste for compost, mulch or other agricultural,
horticultural, gardening or landscaping purposes.
Upon the granting of a permit for the collection of recyclables,
the person to whom such permit has been granted shall provide to the
Commissioner written reports on a monthly basis containing the following
information:
A. Gross tons of recyclables, by type collected.
B. Locations of all commercial stops serviced during the particular
month of each commodity recycled.
C. Disposal location for recyclables collected.
Independent sanitary districts and incorporated villages which
dispose of solid waste at the Town of Hempstead solid waste management
facility in accordance with this chapter shall provide monthly written
reports to the Commissioner on the quantities of the various recyclables
collected and marketed by all municipal and private carters and recyclers
under their jurisdiction.
It shall be unlawful for:
A. Any person, other than those authorized in a Town solid waste collection district, incorporated village or independent sanitary district, to collect any recyclable materials without first obtaining a recycling collection permit pursuant to §
128-74.
B. Any person to operate a recycling center for the separation of Town waste without first obtaining a recycling center permit pursuant to §
128-75.
C. Any person to operate a construction and demolition debris processing facility without first obtaining a construction and demolition debris processing permit pursuant to §
128-76.
D. Any person to violate or to cause or assist in the violation of any
provision of this Article or any implementing rule or regulation promulgated
by the Commissioner.
E. Any person to hinder, obstruct, prevent or interfere with the Department
employees or any other authorized persons in the performance of any
duty under this Article or in the enforcement of this Article.
F. Any person to collect solid waste from a residential premises and
dispose of solid waste which consists of recyclable materials combined
with other forms of solid waste.
G. Any person to place recyclable material in a container that is destined
for collection as acceptable solid waste for delivery to a Town solid
waste management facility.
H. Any person to place any materials that are unacceptable for treatment
at a waste-to-energy facility into a container that contains acceptable
solid waste and is destined for processing at said facility. This
includes, but is not limited, to metals, construction and demolition
debris, tires, bulky waste, medical waste and hazardous waste.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or
part of this article is adjudged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction,
the judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder
of this article but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
sentence, paragraph, section or part of this article that shall be
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall
have been rendered.