This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Municipal
Waste Collection and Recycling Ordinance."
In addition to the definitions set forth in §
168-1 of this chapter, the following additional terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Events that are sponsored by public or private agencies or
individuals, including but not limited to fairs, bazaars, socials,
picnics and organized sporting events attended by 200 or more individuals
per day.
GLASS
All products made from silica or sand, soda ash and limestone;
the product may be transparent, translucent or colored and may be
used as a container for the packaging or bottling of various matters.
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
Those facilities that house or serve groups of people, including
but not limited to hospitals, schools, day-care centers and nursing
homes.
MUNICIPAL WASTE COLLECTOR
Any collector registered pursuant to this article and the
regulations established by resolution adopted hereunder and pursuant
to any agreement approved by Lower Moreland Township.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association,
institution, cooperative enterprise, trust, municipal authority, federal
institution or agency, state institution or agency, municipality,
other governmental agency or any other legal entity or any group of
such persons whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject
of rights and duties. In any provision of this article prescribing
a fine, penalty or imprisonment, or any combination of the foregoing,
the term "person" shall mean the officers and directors of any corporation
or other legal entity having officers and directors.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
Those materials required to be recycled pursuant to this
chapter or the provisions of regulations established by resolution
adopted hereunder, as revised from time to time, which can be separated
from municipal waste and returned to commerce to be reused as a resource
in the development of useful products, and includes, but is not limited
to, the following: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum cans, steel
and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated
paper, yard waste and plastics.
RESIDENT
Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association,
institution, cooperative enterprise, trust, municipal authority, federal
institution or agency, state institution or agency, municipality,
other governmental agency or any other legal entity or any group of
such persons whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject
of rights and duties, which owns, leases or occupies a property located
in Lower Moreland Township used as a residence and containing four
or less dwelling units.
SOURCE-SEPARATED RECYCLABLES
Materials that are separated from municipal waste at the
point of origin for the purpose of recycling or composting.
The following provisions apply to the separation and collection
of materials from commercial, institutional and municipal establishments,
multifamily housing and sponsors or organizers of community activities
throughout the Township:
A. Separation.
(1) Recyclable materials. All owners and occupants of commercial, institutional
or municipal establishments shall separate the following recycling
materials: corrugated paper, office papers, newsprint, aluminum, and
yard waste. Persons in multifamily housing (which includes independent
and assisted-living facilities) and sponsors or organizers of community
activities in Lower Moreland Township shall separate the following
recycling materials: plastic, colored glass, clear glass, bimetal
and steel, corrugated paper, office papers, newsprint, aluminum and
yard waste. Persons owning and/or operating commercial, institutional,
municipal establishments, multifamily housing and sponsors or organizers
of community activities shall be responsible for providing a system
to source separate recyclable materials from the municipal waste generated
at their property. This system should be developed with the assistance
of the municipal waste collector.
(2) Each person who owns a multifamily unit or nonresidential unit shall:
(a)
Provide recycling containers at easily accessible locations
for source separation of designated recyclable materials;
(b)
Provide written instructions to all persons occupying each multifamily
unit and nonresidential unit to ensure that all designated recyclable
materials are source separated; and
(c)
Provide collection and delivery to a facility of source-separated
designated recyclable materials at a frequency of not less than once
per month.
(3) Yard waste. All persons owning multifamily, commercial, institutional
or municipal establishments, who gather leaves and are not served
by the Township's yard waste collection program, if any, shall arrange
for the separation of yard waste from municipal waste for recycling/composting
of yard waste at a composting facility operating in accordance with
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Regulations
and Guidelines for Yard Waste Composting Facilities.
B. Collection. The method of collection of the recyclable materials
for disposition shall be the responsibility of the person who generates
the recyclables (i.e., generator) or a municipal waste collector designated
by the generator for the collection and marketing and recycling of
its recyclable material.
C. Recycling reports. Recycling reports for multifamily housing, commercial,
municipal, institutional properties and community activities:
(1) The landlord of every multifamily housing property and every commercial,
municipal and institutional establishment and community activity sponsor
shall complete a form to be designated "Recycling Report," to be provided
by the Township, which shall indicate where the property's recyclables
were delivered or picked up by whom. Such report shall provide information
on the type and amount of each material recycled. The recycling report
and all weigh slips obtained from the facility or facilities to which
the recyclables are delivered or taken shall be submitted quarterly
to the Township. For purposes of submitting such weigh slips and recycling
reports quarterly to the Township, the private hauler who removed
the recyclables from the property may be the agent for the landlord,
operator of the establishment or sponsor of the activity and shall
be responsible for completing and submitting such to 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.
D. Prohibition. No person shall mix municipal waste in containers to
be used for the separation and collection of recyclables. No person
shall mix recyclable materials or yard waste in containers used for
the collection of municipal waste.
Every multifamily residence, commercial establishment and institutional establishment in Lower Moreland Township shall contract with an individual, entity or firm which is a licensed hauler by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have all the municipal waste and recyclables generated on the premises by any of the occupants of the premises removed and disposed of as per §
168-3, and §§
168-17 through
168-21. The individual, entity or firm with whom the municipality contracts to service single-family dwellings with respect to hauling must be licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have all the municipal waste and recyclables generated on the premises by any of the occupants of the premises removed and disposed of as per §
168-3, and §§
168-17 through
168-21 of this chapter.
All recyclable materials placed by a resident for collection by the Township pursuant to this article and the regulations hereunder shall, from the time of pickup, become the property of the Township, except as otherwise provided by §§
168-15 and
168-16.
It shall be a violation of this article for any individual,
partnership, association or corporation, other than the Township or
one authorized by the Board of Commissioners, to collect recyclable
materials placed by a resident for collection by the Township unless
such individual, partnership, association or corporation has prior
written permission from the Township to make such collection. Each
unauthorized collection in violation hereof from one or more residences
on one calendar day shall constitute a separate and distinct offense
punishable as hereinafter provided.
Any person may donate or sell recyclable materials to any individual,
partnership, association or corporation, whether operating for profit
or not, provided that the receiving individual, partnership, association
or corporation shall not collect such donated recyclable materials
from the collection point without prior written permission from the
Township to make such collection.
Additional regulations for the collection of municipal waste
and recyclable materials by municipal waste collectors, and the preparation
for collection of municipal waste and recyclable materials and yard
waste by property owners and residents of the Township, may be promulgated
by regulations to be adopted by the Commissioners of Lower Moreland
Township to carry out the intent and purpose of this article. Such
rules and regulations shall be approved by resolution of the Commissioners
of Lower Moreland Township and, when so approved, shall have the same
force and effect as the provisions of this article. Said rules and
regulations may be amended, modified or replaced by resolution of
the Commissioners of Lower Moreland Township.
Any person who violates any provision of this article or of
the regulations adopted hereunder, or any person who knowingly commits,
takes part in, or assists in any such violation shall, upon conviction
thereof in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
more than $1,000 and not less than $250. Each day on which a violation
of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense punishable
by a like fine or penalty. In addition to this penalty, the Township
may institute any appropriate action or proceeding, whether by legal
process or otherwise, to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business
or use on or about such premises subject to this article.
The article has been developed to implement municipal responsibilities
under the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction
Act (Act 101 of 1988).