The purpose of this article is to establish a program for the
mandatory source-separation, separate collection and recycling of
designated recyclable materials, and composting of leaf waste, from
residences and properties receiving municipal waste collection service
from or on behalf of the Township of Coolbaugh for recycling and composting
purposes; to prohibit the disposal of designated recyclable materials
into the conventional municipal waste disposal system; to empower
the Township to promulgate and adopt reasonable rules and regulations
therefor, and to fix penalties for violation of this article.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meaning indicated, unless a different meaning appears clearly from
the context:
AGENT
One who performs an act for his immediate family or for another
person as defined in this article, with or without compensation.
AUTHORIZED COLLECTOR
A private hauler (as defined herein) or a person who, being
so authorized by the terms of this article, removes municipal waste
or recyclables from his own premises, as owner of the building or
commercial, municipal or institutional establishment or community
activity conducted therein, or as an agent of another person.
BIMETALLIC CANS
Empty food or beverage containers consisting of both steel
and aluminum.
BULK ITEMS
Any large durable goods such as refrigerators, washing machines,
window air conditioners, hot-water heaters, dishwashers and any other
major home appliances in addition to other large bulk items such as
dressers, beds, mattresses, sofas, televisions sets and other large
household items.
COLLECTOR
A general term referring to any person who collects, for
removal from premises, municipal waste or recyclables.
COMMERCIAL
Of or pertaining to any wholesale, retail, industrial, manufacturing,
transportation, financial or professional service or office enterprise,
business or establishment.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITY
Events sponsored in whole or in part by a mandated municipality,
or conducted within a municipality and sponsored privately, which
include, but are not limited to, fairs, bazaars, socials, picnics
and organized sporting events that will be attended by 200 or more
individuals per day.
COMPOSTING
The process of the biological decomposition of organic solid
waste being biologically decomposed under controlled anaerobic or
aerobic conditions to yield humus-like product.
CORRUGATED PAPER
Structural paper material with an inner core shaped in rigid
parallel furrows and ridges, of the type normally used to make packing
cartons and boxes.
CURBSIDE
That location at the edge of any lot, parcel or piece of
land adjacent to a public right-of-way or roadway, and which location
is most accessible and/or convenient to any authorized collector,
as defined by this article, for the purpose of collecting municipal
waste and/or recyclables.
CURBSIDE COLLECTION
A method of collection of residentially generated recyclables
by which the owners or occupants of certain residential properties
may dispose of their recyclables by placing them at curbside at a
time designated by Coolbaugh Township for collection and removal thereof
for delivery to a recycling center.
DESIGNATED RECYCLABLES
Those recyclable materials specified by Coolbaugh Township
for collection under its mandatory recycling program.
DEVELOPMENT
A recorded residential subdivision in which homeowners are
members of a duly organized, validly existing property owners association
or corporation and which has been recognized by and registered with
the Board of Supervisors of Coolbaugh Township, as required by this
article.
DISPOSAL
The incineration, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling,
leaking or placing of municipal waste into or on the land or water
in a manner such that the municipal waste or a constituent thereof
enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged to
the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
DISPOSAL AREA
Any site, location, area, building, structure, transfer station
or premises to be used for municipal waste disposal.
GARBAGE
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from
the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
GLASS CONTAINERS
All empty food and beverage jars or bottles, the product
being transparent or translucent (clear, green or brown). Expressly
excluded are noncontainer glass, window or plate glass, light bulbs,
blue glass and porcelain and ceramic products.
HIGH-GRADE PAPER
Bond, copier, letterhead or mimeograph paper typically sold
as "white ledger" paper, and computer paper.
INSTITUTIONAL
Of, or pertaining to, any establishment engaged in service
to persons including, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes,
schools, universities, churches and social or fraternal societies
and organizations.
LANDLORD
The owner of residential property, made subject to a lease,
or such owner's authorized agent.
LEAF WASTE
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residue,
shrubbery and tree trimmings and similar materials, but not including
grass clippings.
MAGAZINES
Printed matter, also known as "periodicals," containing miscellaneous
written pieces published at fixed or varying intervals, printed on
glossy or chemically coated paper. Expressly excluded are newspapers
and all other paper products of any nature whatsoever.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLING
A type of residential property either under single ownership
or organized as a condominium or cooperative form of housing, which
contains four or more dwelling units.
MUNICIPAL
Of, or pertaining to, any office or other property under
the control of any branch or arm of the Federal Government of the
United States of America, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any
political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania including,
but not limited to, Coolbaugh Township, any counties, cities, boroughs,
townships and municipal authorities.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
Any garbage, refuse, industrial, lunchroom or office waste
and other materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous material, resulting from operation of residential, municipal
or commercial or institutional establishments, or from community activities
and which are not classified as residual or hazardous waste, except
farm-produced manure, other agricultural waste and food processing
waste used on land where such materials will improve the condition
of the soil, the growth of crops or the restoration of the land for
the same purposes, and any sludge not meeting the definition of "residual
or hazardous waste," as defined in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Solid
Waste Management Act. The term does not include source-separated recyclable
materials or leaf waste.
MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILL
Any facility that is designed, operated, used and/or maintained
for the disposal of municipal waste. The term shall not include any
facility that is used exclusively for disposal of construction/demolition
waste or sludge from sewage treatment plants or water supply treatment
plants.
NEWSPAPER
Paper of the type commonly referred to as "newsprint" and
distributed at fixed or stated intervals, usually daily or weekly,
having printed thereon news and opinions and containing advertisements
and other matters of public interest. The term "newspaper" expressly
excludes glossy advertising inserts, magazines, glossy or other chemically
coated paper, office paper and any other paper products of any nature.
PERSON
Any agent, individual, partnership, corporation, association,
institution, cooperative enterprise, municipality, municipal authority,
federal government or agency, state institution or agency, or any
other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject
of rights and duties. In any provisions of this article prescribing
a fine, imprisonment or penalty, or any combination of the foregoing,
the term "person" shall include the officers and directors of any
corporation or other legal entity having officers and directors.
PLASTIC CONTAINERS
Empty plastic food and beverage containers, the specific
types of which are:
A.
No. 1 PET (e.g., soft drink bottles).
B.
No. 2 HDPE (e.g., milk and water jugs, detergent and shampoo
bottles and similar items).
C.
Other such plastic as may be designated by resolution of the
Coolbaugh Township Supervisors.
PRIVATE HAULER
A person licensed by the State of Pennsylvania as per the
amended Title 27 (Environmental Resources), Waste Transportation Safety
Program, of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, to collect, haul
or transport municipal waste and recyclables. All such haulers shall
comply with the provisions of Title 27, as well as all federal, state,
county and local laws and regulations.
RECYCLABLES
Materials designated as recyclable in this article or required
by the terms of this article (or any amendment hereto) to be kept
separate from municipal waste and recycled. The term includes leaf
waste (as defined herein).
RECYCLING FACILITY
A facility employing a technology and/or a process that separates
or classifies municipal waste and creates or recovers reusable materials
that can be sold to or reused by a manufacturer as a substitute for
or a supplement to virgin raw materials. The term "recycling facility"
shall not mean transfer stations or landfills for solid waste nor
composting facilities or resource recovery facilities. The term does
not include:
B.
Methane gas extraction from a municipal waste landfill.
C.
Any separation and collection center, dropoff point or collection
center for recycling, or any source-separation or collection center
for comporting leaf waste.
D.
Any facility, including all units in the facility with a total
processing capacity of less than 50 tons per day.
RESIDENT
Any person residing or sleeping in a building or having possession
of a space within a building.
RUBBISH
Solid waste exclusive of garbage (e.g., nonrecyclable glass,
metal, paper or plastic) and noncompostable plant material, wood or
nonputrescrible solid waste.
STEEL CANS
Empty food or beverage containers made of steel, tin-coated
steel or ferrous metal food or beverage containers.
STORAGE
The containment of any municipal waste on a temporary basis
in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such municipal waste.
It shall be presumed that the containment of any municipal waste in
excess of one year constitutes disposal. This presumption may be overcome
only by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
TOWNSHIP
Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
TRANSFER STATION
A facility that receives and processes or temporarily stores
municipal or residual waste at a location other than the generation
site and which facilitates the transportation or transfer of municipal
or residual waste to a processing or disposal facility. The term includes
a facility that uses a method or technology to convert part or all
of such waste materials for off-site refuse. The term does not include
a collection or processing center that is only for source-separated
recyclable materials, including clear glass, colored glass, aluminum,
steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated
paper and plastic. Nor does the term include the designated location
of a container within the development where agents of the lot's
owners have deposited municipal waste collected from the development
residences for subsequent collection and disposition by a private
hauler.
TRANSPORTATION
The removal from any site or location of any municipal waste
or recyclable materials at any time after generation thereof.
WASTE
A material whose original purpose has been completed and
which is directed to a disposal or processing facility or is otherwise
disposed of. The term does not include source-separated recyclable
materials, leaf waste or material approved by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection for beneficial
use.
For residential properties other than multifamily dwellings,
all recyclables, which are required to be kept separate from municipal
waste in residential properties, shall be placed at curbside or some
appropriate location on the premises, to be collected at times designated
by the Township. The frequency of such collection shall be not less
than once per calendar month during the first week of each month.
All recyclables, which are required to be kept separate from
municipal waste in commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
and properties and community activities, either shall be delivered
directly to a recycling center or shall be picked up by an authorized
private hauler separately from municipal waste, in a prearranged manner,
for the exclusive purpose of recycling. Commercial, municipal and
institutional establishments and community activities shall not place
recyclables within or near the public right-of-way for curbside collection,
such curbside collection being intended solely for the placement of
recyclables generated in residential properties other than multifamily
housing properties.
All private haulers shall submit to the Township a recycling
report and all weight slips obtained from the facility or facilities
to which the recyclables were delivered or taken. The said weight
slips shall indicate the weight of all recyclables collected from
within the Township. Each such quarterly recycling report shall be
submitted on or before the last day of the first month of each quarter,
for the preceding quarter. Quarters shall run on a calendar-year basis,
thus: January through March; April through June; July through September;
and October through December.
From the time of placement of residentially generated recyclable
items for collection in accordance with the terms of this article,
the items shall be and become the property of the private hauler.
It shall be a violation of this article for any person unauthorized
by the Township to collect or pick up or cause to be collected or
picked up any such items. Any and each such collection in violation
hereof from one or more locations shall constitute a separate and
distinct offense punishable as hereinafter provided.
The presence of any articles containing a person's name
among municipal waste and recyclables shall create a refutable presumption,
for purposes of this article, that said municipal waste or recyclables
are, or were, the property of the person whose name is found therein.
Any person accumulating or storing municipal waste or recyclables
on private or public property within the Township, including recyclables
assembled within a development, for any purpose whatsoever shall place
the same, or cause the same to be placed, in a closed or covered sanitary
container, in accordance with the following standards:
A. Containers used for the storage of municipal waste shall be of plastic
construction, equipped with lids and waterproof. All such containers
shall be approved by the Township.
B. No person, except the occupants of the property on which a waste
container is placed, a private hauler, the Township Zoning Officer
or such other person as the Township may designate and are duly authorized
agent or representative of property owners association or corporation
recognized as such by the Township, shall remove the lids of the container
and/or remove the contents thereof.
C. All recyclables will be placed in the above-mentioned containers.
Prior to such placement, all plastic containers shall have the tops
removed. All containers shall be rinsed and cleaned prior to placement
in the recycling container for curbside pickup.
The Township is hereby authorized to collect municipal waste
from the Township property, to provide public litter baskets in the
Township and to dispose of such waste in either a receptacle of a
private hauler or at designated disposal sites.
Any person granted a license by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall not in any manner be construed as an agent, servant or employee
of Coolbaugh Township but shall, at all times, be considered and remain
an independent contractor. Likewise, no property owners association
or corporation who assembles municipal waste or recyclables within
a development shall be construed as an agent, servant or employee
of Coolbaugh Township.
Private haulers shall establish rates to be charged to each
occupant of the premises from which municipal, waste or recyclables
shall be collected. The private hauler shall enter into individual
or separate contracts with each household or occupant of the premises,
without liability to or upon the Township.
All private haulers shall be required to collect and remove
municipal waste and/or recyclables in motor-driven vehicles having
enclosed, metal, leakproof bodies with metal covers or covers made
of such material as to prevent the contents from escaping.
Each private hauler shall have a valid agreement, not subject
to cancellation, covering the use of an appropriate disposal facility
in accordance with the Monroe County Waste Management Plan, or such
other law as may be applicable which governs the use and maintenance
of any such disposal facility.
All private haulers contracted for municipal waste collection
shall provide such customers (residential, multifamily, commercial,
municipal and institutional) the service of removing recyclables (as
defined in this article) from their properties at the curbside or
an appropriate location on the premises. Any such materials so removed
by a private hauler shall be kept separate from municipal waste and
shall be taken to a facility for the specific purpose of recycling.
Failure to provide said services shall be a violation of this article.
The Township reserves the right, by resolution, to direct recyclables
and or leaf and yard waste to a designated facility.
The issuance of a collector's license by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania shall not grant vested right to any collector or a
continued right to haul or collect municipal waste, recyclables or
leaf and yard waste in the Township. The Township reserves the right
to contract for municipal waste, recycling or leaf and yard waste
collection services or to initiate the public collection of municipal
waste, recyclables and/or leaf and yard waste.
No private hauler shall accept, pick up or remove any bag or
other container of municipal waste which the private hauler knows,
or has reason to believe, contains recyclables, combined with municipal
waste placed at curbside or otherwise placed for pickup, the private
hauler shall affix a tag or sticker (provided by the Township) to
the container containing the recyclables, retain a copy for his records
and deliver a copy to the Township within 48 hours. The tag or sticker
shall contain the address at which the container is located the nature
of the suspected violation or the reason which led him to believe
that recyclable materials were in the municipal waste container (e.g.,
visual observation or heard bottles and cans rattling). Once the sticker
or tag is affixed to the container, it is to be left at the location
where it was originally placed.
No person shall terminate the services of a private hauler because of such private hauler's compliance with requirements set forth in §
337-48 above.
In the event that any private hauler misses a pickup, the private
hauler shall collect from the missed location within 24 hours of notification
from the missed resident, provided the resident has abided by the
terms of his or her contract with the private hauler.
Nothing contained herein shall impair or prohibit any recognized
civic, fraternal, charitable or benevolent organization, association
or society from undertaking or sponsoring voluntary programs or projects
involving the collection of recyclables from the public. Any such
collection activity can only occur prior to the recyclable materials
being placed at curbside or similar location for collection by a private
hauler. Prior to initiating such activity, the organization shall
obtain authorization from the Township.
The various headings used throughout this article are intended
only as an aid in its organization, in order to facilitate ease of
reading, and are not to be considered a substantive part of this article.
In this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
singular shall include the plural; the plural shall include the singular;
and the masculine shall include the feminine and neuter.