[Adopted 8-20-1990 by Ord. No. 236]
This ordinance shall be known as the "Palmer
Township Recycling Ordinance."
A.
According to the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling
and Waste Reduction Act ("Act 101"), 53 P.S. § 4000.101
through 4000.1904 (1988) (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), waste
reduction and recycling are preferable to the processing or disposal
of municipal waste. A recycling program is required to promote and
protect the public interest so that reusable materials may be returned
to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products
rather than being disposed of or processed at the commonwealth's overburdened
municipal waste processing or disposal facilities. The Act requires
certain municipalities, including Palmer Township, to:
(1)
Establish and implement a source-separation and collection
program for recyclable materials.
(2)
Reach the goal that at least 25% of all municipal
waste be recycled by and continuing after January 1, 1997.
(3)
Ensure that two years after the effective date (of
the Act) no municipal waste landfill may accept for disposal and no
resource recovery facility may accept for processing, other than composting,
truck loads composed primarily of leaf waste.
(4)
Establish and maintain a comprehensive and sustained
public information and education program concerning recycling program
features and requirements. The intent of such a program is to notify
persons of recycling requirements and encourage, through a variety
of means, participation in such activities.
B.
Palmer Township is aware that the success of a recycling
program is dependent upon the availability and use of standardized
collection practices and uniform containers to facilitate separation
and pick up.
C.
Palmer Township is aware that the recycling program
will be more effective if the household containers provided are protected
from theft and destruction, and if persons are forbidden to scavenge
recyclables from containers once they are placed curbside.
D.
Palmer Township is aware that the recycling program
will be impaired without the cooperation and participation of those
persons required to recycle by the Act and this ordinance and the
regulations.
As used in this ordinance, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A person authorized by the municipality to collect, transport,
and dispose of municipal waste or recyclable materials.
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial
purposes.
Events that are organized by public or private establishments
or individuals that include but are not limited to fairs, bazaars,
socials, picnics and organized sporting events attended by 50 or more
individuals per day.
A location readily accessible to the authorized collector
adjacent to the curb or to the roadway if there is no curb.
An area where an individual may deposit recyclable materials
and where recyclables may be sorted.
Those facilities that house or serve groups of people such
as hospitals, schools, day-care centers, and nursing homes.
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residue,
chipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including grass clippings.
Any properties having more than one dwelling unit per structure.
A public facility operated by the municipality and other
governmental and quasi-governmental authorities.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial, lunchroom or office waste,
and other materials including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained
gaseous material resulting from an operation or residential, municipal,
commercial, or institutional establishments or from community activities
and which are not classified as residual waste or hazardous waste.
The term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution,
cooperative enterprise, municipality, municipal authority or any other
legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject
of rights and duties. This includes non-person legal entities.
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf wastes, plastics and other materials which
would otherwise be disposed or processed as municipal waste.
Those containers provided by the municipality (Palmer Township)
and other properly labeled containers used for the sole purpose of
storing recyclables.
The person responsible to coordinate the activities of the
recycling program of Palmer Township and from time to time recommend
revisions of the Recycling Regulations to the Board of Supervisors.
Those regulations issued and from time to time revised by
resolution of the Board of Supervisors setting forth specific requirements
for the collection program for recyclables.
[1]To separate recyclable materials from the municipal waste
stream at the point of waste generation.
A.
Persons living in homes, multifamily housing, rental
housing properties with three or less units, and other residential
establishments not otherwise classified by this ordinance, must separate
at least three materials from their municipal waste and recycle such
materials. The materials to be recycled shall be chosen by the municipality
from the following: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and
bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper
and plastic. These persons shall also be required to separate leaf
waste until collection unless these persons have provided for the
composting or other use of leaf waste. The municipality shall specify
the materials to be recycled in the regulations for this ordinance.
The frequency of collection of these recyclables and leaf waste will
be specified by the regulations to this ordinance.[1] These materials must be separated by persons until they
are collected, taken to a dropoff center or otherwise distributed
for recycling.
B.
Responsibilities of owner or landlord.
(1)
The owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord
of multifamily rental housing properties with four or more units shall
establish a collection system for recyclable materials at each property.
The materials to be recycled shall be chosen by the municipality from
the following: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic
cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastic.
The collection system must include suitable containers for collecting
and sorting materials, easily accessible locations for the containers
and written instructions to the occupants concerning the use and availability
of the collection system. The owner, landlord or agent of an owner
or landlord of multifamily rental housing properties with four or
more units, must also make arrangements for the materials to be collected
or transported for recycling. Owners, landlords and agents of owners
or landlords who comply with the Act shall not be liable for the noncompliance
of occupants of their buildings.
(2)
The owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord
of multifamily rental housing properties with four or more units must
also arrange for the separation of leaf waste generated on the grounds
of the multifamily rental housing properties for composting or other
use.
(3)
The owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord
of multifamily rental housing properties with four or more units shall
annually provide written documentation to the municipality's recycling
coordinator of the total number of tons recycled.
C.
Commercial, municipal or institutional establishments.
(1)
Persons shall recycle high-grade office paper, aluminum,
corrugated paper and may recycle other additional materials, generated
at commercial, municipal or institutional establishments and from
community activities. Leaf waste shall be separated and used in any
way permitted by law. Leaf waste is not to be included with municipal
waste. Commercial and institutional establishments shall provide annually
written documentation to the municipality's recycling coordinator
of the total number of tons recycled.
(2)
Schools, colleges, universities and other educational
institutions shall comply with the Palmer Township guidelines for
institutional establishments. The following exceptions shall apply.
D.
An information and education program shall be established
in conjunction with the recycling efforts.
E.
The specific regulations governing the above described program are provided in a document separate from this ordinance. Subsequent changes in the program regulations may be made by resolution of the Board of Supervisors utilizing the appropriate procedures and should not necessitate a change in the ordinance itself. (See § 156-15.)
All recyclables for curbside collection or for
any public dropoff center shall be prepared for curbside collection
or delivery to a dropoff center in accordance with the specifications
established in the Recycling Regulations.
A.
The Board of Supervisors of Palmer Township is hereby
authorized to issue and from time to time revise regulations which
set forth specific requirements for the recycling program. These rules
and regulations shall be formally known as the "Recycling Regulations"
and shall be adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of
Palmer Township.[1] See § 156-13E of this ordinance.
B.
In addition, the Board of Supervisors of Palmer Township
shall appoint a recycling coordinator who is authorized to coordinate
the recycling program. The recycling coordinator may also from time
to time issue and revise recycling regulations which set forth specific
requirements for the curbside collection of leaves and use of the
Township composting site for leaf waste. These specific requirements
must be adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors before they
become part of the regulations. The recycling coordinator shall also
receive the reports showing the quantity of materials recycled as
required by this ordinance and the regulations.
A.
Once the recyclable items are placed at the curbside
by persons living in homes, multifamily housing, rental housing properties
with three or less units, and other residential establishments not
otherwise classified by this ordinance, they shall become the property
of the person authorized by the municipality to collect the recyclable
materials. The regulations to this ordinance shall specify who is
authorized to collect the recyclables under the current program.
B.
Nothing in this section or this ordinance or the regulations
shall impair the ownership of recyclables by the persons who generate
them nor interfere with any other existing recycling program, unless
and until the recyclables are placed at the curbside or similar location
as specified in the regulations to this ordinance. However, the original
owner of the recyclables may retrieve all or part of the recyclables
from his/her own curbside before the time of collection. There shall
be no penalty applied under the enforcement provisions of this ordinance
if he/she chooses to do so.
C.
Nothing in this ordinance or the regulations shall
prohibit any person from donating or selling any recyclable. Nothing
in this ordinance or the regulations shall prevent any person from
utilizing leaf waste for compost, mulch, or other agricultural, horticultural,
silvicultural, gardening, landscaping purposes or other purpose not
otherwise prohibited by law.
A.
The recycling containers provided by the municipality
to the residents of the Township shall remain the property of the
municipality.
B.
It shall be a violation of this ordinance for any
person(s) to damage, misappropriate or use for any purpose other than
for recycling, the containers owned by the municipality. Each such
action in violation hereof shall constitute a separate and distinct
offense punishable as hereinafter provided.
A.
The municipality shall advertise to persons required
to recycle by the Act and this ordinance any requirements in regard
to the frequency and manner of collection required under the current
program. The municipality may also require authorized collectors to
advertise information concerning their collection program to applicable
persons in Palmer Township. The authorized collectors are required
to report information concerning the materials collected to the Township
recycling coordinator. The authorized collectors shall be notified
by the Township authorities of the information which they are required
to report. The municipality may require persons to arrange for the
collection of their own recyclables with authorized collectors. The
regulations shall outline the current requirements.
B.
If the municipality so chooses, it may enter into
an agreement(s) with public or private agencies or firms to authorize
them to operate or administer all or any part of the recycling program
mandated by this ordinance.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate
or to cause or to assist in the violation of any provision of this
ordinance or any provision of the regulations. No person shall scavenge,
remove, take, scatter or disturb recyclable materials which have been
placed by persons at the curbside for their collection by authorized
collectors pursuant to the curbside collection program, or deposited
at a dropoff center.
[Amended 4-19-1993 by Ord. No. 251[1]]
A.
Any person violating a provision of this ordinance
or a regulation pursuant thereto shall be given a written notice thereof
from the Township Secretary, upon recommendation by the Township Recycling
Coordinator. The said notice shall give the person a period of 30
days to comply with the provisions of the said ordinance or the said
regulations. If, after receipt of such notice, the person continues
to violate the provisions of the said ordinance or the said regulations,
the said person shall be prosecuted as provided below.
B.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
ordinance shall be prosecuted in the manner provided by law before
a District Magistrate and, upon conviction of such violation, shall
be subject to a fine not in excess of the sum of $300 together with
the cost of prosecution. Each day on which such a violation or violations
occurs and each day on which such violation or violations continue
to occur shall be considered as a separate offense for each and every
day of such violation. Upon failure of the person so convicted to
pay the fines so imposed, confinement shall be ordered in the Northampton
County Prison for a period of not less than three days nor not in
excess of 30 days. All portions of the fines to the Township for violation
of the Palmer Township Solid Waste Management Ordinance or the Palmer
Township Recycling Ordinance and/or regulations applicable shall be
paid to the Township of Palmer and shall be earmarked to be spent
on the administrative costs of the Palmer Township Solid Waste Management
Program and the Palmer Township Recycling Program.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 4 of this ordinance
also provided as follows: "It shall be the duty, as prescribed by
this ordinance, of each commercial, professional, industrial and residential
landlord to notify each of their tenants of the provisions of this
ordinance, of the above-referenced Ordinance No. 216-A, of the above-referenced
Ordinance No. 236 and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto, as
amended, and to oversee and assure compliance by such tenants with
such provisions."
Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause
or phrase of this ordinance or its regulations be declared unconstitutional
or invalid for any reason, the remainder of this ordinance and its
regulations shall not be affected thereby.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which
are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Nothing contained in this ordinance or its regulations
shall be construed to interfere with or in any way modify the provisions
of any existing contracts which are in force in the Township on the
effective date of this ordinance.
This ordinance and its regulations shall go
into effect on September 24, 1990. No enforcement of the provisions
of this ordinance or its regulations shall be made until two months
from the effective date of September 24, 1990.
