[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Independence 5-10-1988 by Ord. No. 88-7 (Ch.
129 of the 1984 Code); amended in its entirety 2-9-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-01. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
An activity involving the sale of goods or services carried
out for profit.
A combining of nonputrescible source-separated recyclable
materials for the purpose of recycling.
Those materials designated within the Warren County District
Solid Waste Management Plan to be source-separated for the purpose
of recycling. These materials include: container glass (clean, green,
and brown), aluminum cans, bimetal cans, plastic beverage bottles
PETE and HDPE resins, HDPE plastic milk and water jugs, newspapers,
corrugated cardboard, high-grade paper, household batteries, magazines,
junk mail, textiles, tires, waste motor oil, computers, white goods,
asphalt, concrete paving and brick, automotive batteries (lead acid),
laser and inkjet cartridges, leaves and yard waste, scrap metals,
fluorescent lighting tubes, oil-based paint, alkyd, varnish, polyurethane,
stain, and sealers.
A computer central processing unit and associated hardware
including keyboards, modems, printers scanners and fax machines; a
cathode ray tube, a cathode ray tube device, a flat-panel display
or similar video display device with a screen that is greater than
four inches measured diagonally and that contains one or more circuit
boards, including a television, and cell phones.
All mean any building, including but not limited to any related
structure, accessory building, and land appurtenant thereto, and any
part thereof, which contains 10 or more units of dwelling space or
has sleeping facilities for 25 or more persons and is kept, used,
maintained, advertised as, or held out to be, a place where sleeping
or dwelling accommodations are available to transient or permanent
guests.
This definition shall also mean and include any hotel, motor
hotel, motel, or established guesthouse which is commonly regarded
as a hotel, motor hotel, motel, or established guesthouse, as the
case may be, in the community in which it is located; provided, however,
that this definition shall not be construed to include any building
or structure defined as a multiple dwelling in this act, registered
as a multiple dwelling with the Commissioner of Community Affairs
as hereinafter provided, and occupied or intended to be occupied as
such nor shall this definition be construed to include a rooming house
or a boarding house as defined in the "Rooming and Boarding House
Act of 1979," P.L.1979, c.496 (N.J.S.A. 55:13B-1 et al.) or, except
as otherwise set forth in P.L.1987, c.270 (N.J.S.A. 55:13A-7.5, 55:13A-7.6,
55:13A-12.1, 55:13A-13.2), or any retreat lodging facility, as defined
in this section.
Any building or structure of complex of buildings in which
three or more dwelling units are rented or leased or offered for rental
or lease for residential purposes (see N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.13a.) except
hotels, motels, or other guest houses serving transient or seasonal
guests as those terms are defined under Subsection (j) of § 3
of the "Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law," P.L. 1967, c. 76 (N.J.S.A.
55: 13A-1 et seq.);
The person or persons appointed by the municipal governing
body and who shall be authorized to enforce the provisions of this
chapter and any rules and regulations which may be promulgated hereunder.
The Recycling Coordinator shall be appointed by the governing body
for a term of one year, expiring December 31st of each year. The initial
term shall be for the remainder of the calendar year succeeding the
appointment.
All solid waste generated at residential, commercial and
institutional establishments within the boundaries of the municipality
of Independence Township.
Those materials which would otherwise become solid waste,
and which may be collected, separated, or processed and returned to
the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products.
Recyclable materials which are separated at the point of
generation by the generator thereof from solid waste for the purposes
of recycling.
The process by which recyclable materials are separated at
the point of generation by the generator thereof from solid waste
for the purposes of recycling.
A.
Mandatory source separation.
(1)
It shall be mandatory for all persons who are owners, tenants, or
occupants of residential and nonresidential premises, which shall
include but not be limited to retail and other commercial locations,
as well as government, schools and other institutional locations within
the municipality of Independence Township, to separate designated
recyclable materials from all solid waste.
(2)
Designated recyclable materials shall be deposited separate and apart
from other solid waste generated by the owners, tenants, or occupants
of such premises and shall be placed separately at the curb in a manner
and on such days and times as may be hereinafter established by regulations
promulgated by the Township of Independence.
B.
Exemptions: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.16, Subsection d, the governing
body of a municipality may exempt persons occupying commercial or
institutional premises within its municipal boundaries from the source
separation requirements of the ordinance which requires persons generating
municipal solid waste within its municipal boundaries to source-separate
from the municipal solid waste stream, the specified recyclable materials
if those persons have otherwise provided for the recycling of all
designated recyclable materials. To be eligible for an exemption pursuant
to this chapter, a commercial or institutional generator of solid
waste shall file an application for exemption with the Municipal Recycling
Coordinator on forms to be provided for this purpose. The form shall
include, at a minimum, the following information: the name of the
commercial or institutional entity; the street address location and
lot and block designation; the name, official title and phone number
of the person making application on behalf of the commercial or institutional
entity; the name, address, official contact person and telephone number
of the facility which provides the service of recycling those designated
recyclable materials, and a certification that the designated recyclable
materials will be recycled, and that, at least on an annual basis,
said recycling service provider shall provide written documentation
to the Municipal Recycling Coordinator of the total number of tons
collected and recycled for each designated material.
The collection of recyclable material shall be in the manner
prescribed as follows:
A.
Recyclables shall be transported by the resident or commercial establishment
to the Warren County Recycling Center, which is hereby designated
by the Township as its official recycling center, or the resident
or commercial entity may, upon arrangement with a garbage hauler to
collect such recyclables, place the same at curbside to be delivered
by such hauler to the Warren County Recycling Center or other bona
fide recycling center.
B.
All recyclables placed at curbside for collection by a hauler shall
be separated and placed in containers acceptable to and conforming
with the requirements of the hauler servicing said resident, institution
or commercial establishment.
C.
All recyclables placed at curbside for collection shall be deemed
the property of the Township or its authorized agent.
D.
All receptacles or dumpsters shall be maintained in a clean and safe
manner.
A.
The owners/occupants of single-family and two-family dwellings shall
be responsible for compliance with this chapter.
B.
For multifamily units, the management or owner is responsible for
setting up and maintaining the recycling system, including the designation
of a building/complex recycling coordinator who will oversee the recycling
system which includes the collection of recyclable materials.
C.
Violations and penalty notices will be directed to the owner, occupant,
or management, in those instances where the violator is not easily
identifiable. The management shall issue notification and collection
rules to new tenants when they arrive and every six months during
their occupancy.
A.
All commercial, business, or industrial facilities shall be required
to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
The arrangement for collection of designated recyclables hereunder
shall be the responsibility of the commercial, institutional or industrial
property owner or their designee, unless the municipality provides
for the collection of designated recyclable materials. All commercial,
institutional or industrial properties which provide outdoor litter
receptacles and disposal service for their contents shall also provide
receptacles for designated recyclable materials, for those materials
commonly deposited, in the location of the litter receptacle, and
shall provide for separate recycling service for their contents.
C.
Annually, every business, institution, or industrial facility shall
report to the Municipal Recycling Coordinator the recycling activities
undertaken at their premises, including the amount of recycled material,
by material type, collected and recycled and the vendor or vendors
providing recycling service. The forms to be used will be provided
by the Municipal Recycling Coordinator.
D.
All food service establishments, as defined in the Health Code, shall,
in addition to compliance with all other recycling requirements, be
required to recycle grease and/or cooking oil created in the processing
of food or food products, and maintain such records as may be prescribed,
for inspection by any code enforcement officer.
A.
Any application to the Planning Board of the municipality of Independence
Township for subdivision or site plan approval for the construction
of multifamily dwellings of three or more units, single-family developments
of 50 or more units or any commercial, institutional, or industrial
development for the utilization of 1,000 square feet or more of land
must include a recycling plan. This plan must contain, at a minimum,
the following:
(1)
A detailed analysis of the expected composition and amounts of solid
waste and recyclables generated at the proposed development; and
(2)
Locations documented on the application's site plan that provide
for convenient recycling opportunities for all owners, tenants, and
occupants. The recycling area shall be of sufficient size, convenient
location and contain other attributes (signage, lighting, fencing,
etc.) as may be determined by the Municipal Recycling Coordinator.
(3)
Provisions shall be made for the indoor, or enclosed outdoor, storage
and pickup of solid waste, to be approved by the municipal engineer.
B.
Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy by the municipality
of Independence Township, the owner of any new multifamily housing
or commercial, institutional, or industrial development must supply
a copy of a duly executed contract with a hauling company for the
purposes of collection and recycling of source-separated recyclable
materials, in those instances where the municipality does not otherwise
provide this service.
A.
It shall be unlawful for solid waste collectors to collect solid
waste that is mixed with, or contains visible signs of, designated
recyclable materials. It is also unlawful for solid waste collectors
to remove for disposal those bags or containers of solid waste which
visibly display a warning notice sticker or some other device indicating
that the load of solid waste contains designated recyclable materials.
B.
It shall be the responsibility of the resident or occupant to properly
segregate the uncollected waste for proper disposal or recycling.
Allowing such unseparated solid waste and recyclables to accumulate
will be considered a violation of this article and the local sanitary
code.
C.
Once placed in the location identified by this chapter, or any rules
or regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, no person, other
than those authorized by the municipality, shall tamper with, collect,
remove, or otherwise handle designated recyclable materials.
The municipal Board of Health, the Recycling Coordinator, the
Zoning Officer, the Building Inspector, the Housing Officer, or other
code enforcement officer, the Police Department, and the Warren County
Department of Health are hereby individually and severally empowered
to enforce the provisions of this chapter. An inspection may consist
of sorting through containers and opening of solid waste bags to detect,
by sound or sight, the presence of any recyclable material.
A.
Any person, corporation, occupant, or entity that violates or fails
to comply with any provision of this chapter or any of the rules and
regulations promulgated hereunder shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable by a fine not less than $250, nor more than $1,000 for
each offense and/or shall be ordered to perform community service
in the recycling program not to exceed 90 days. Each day for which
a violation of this chapter occurs shall be considered a separate
offence.
B.
Fines levied and collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall be immediately deposited into the Municipal Recycling Trust
Fund (or equivalent). Monies in the Municipal Recycling Trust Fund
shall be used for the expenses of the municipal recycling program,
including enforcement and education.
C.
Prosecution of any conduct as a violation of this chapter shall not
be deemed to preclude prosecution of the same conduct under any other
applicable law.
