[Adopted 4-21-1997 by Ord. No. 268]
These regulations, to be effective on May 2,
1997, shall be known as the "Palmer Township Recycling Regulations,"
and may be referred to as the "recycling regulations."
As used in this ordinance, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Single or multilayered brown kraft bags/paper free of objectionable
liners and content; grocery bags free of food contaminates, waxes,
laminates or other non-bag waste such as plastic handles, stitching,
hot melt glues, twine, metal, or plastic liners.
Boxboard/chipboard of single-walled construction. Boxes include
cereal boxes, cracker boxes, pizza boxes, egg cartons, etc.
Paper products only, including envelopes (with or without
windows), flyers, brochures, advertisements, folders, and postcards.
Materials such as brush, branches, and tree and shrub trimmings.
This section establishes a recycling program
for persons living in homes, multifamily housing, rental housing properties
with three or fewer units, and other residential establishments in
Palmer Township not otherwise classified by the Palmer Township Recycling
Ordinance.[1]
A.
Outline of program.
(1)
Act 101, The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and
Waste Reduction Act of 1988, required that municipalities select at
least three items from a list that includes the following: clear glass,
colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office
paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastic. Ordinance 236, The
Palmer Township Recycling Ordinance, specifies that the Township will
name the items to be recycled in the regulations accompanying the
ordinance. The items to be recycled must include at least three items
from the list in Section 4A of Ordinance 236[2] and may include additional items.
(2)
In order to procure the greatest benefit for the community, Palmer
has established a comprehensive recycling list. The recycling program
benefits the community by conserving landfill space and conserving
our natural resources through the reutilization of recyclable materials.
Therefore, as of the effective date of these regulations, the persons
listed under this section shall be required to exclude the following
items from their municipal waste: aluminum, clear glass, colored glass,
corrugated cardboard, third-class mail, magazines, telephone books,
brown paper, grey paper, high-grade office and mixed paper, bimetallic
cans consisting of aluminum and steel, plastics Nos. 1 through 7 excluding
styrofoam, newsprint, leaf waste, and other yard waste. Yard waste
and leaf waste shall be collected by the hauling contractor hired
by Palmer Township and/or Palmer Township employees periodically throughout
the year and be deposited at Palmer Township's composting facility.
Yard waste and leaf waste shall otherwise only be deposited at Palmer
Township's compost facility.
[Amended 10-8-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-414]
(3)
The persons listed under this section must separate
leaf waste from other municipal waste. However, the Township recognizes
that residents may occasionally include a small amount of leaf waste
in with their municipal waste. Palmer Township may provide leaf collection
at limited times as authorized by the Board of Supervisors. At other
times, persons shall provide their own transportation of such waste
to the composting site provided by Palmer Township or use the leaf
waste for any purpose not prohibited by law. Specific instructions
in regard to the collection times and preparation of leaf waste for
collection shall be set by the recycling coordinator.
(4)
Each licensed hauler collecting municipal solid waste
in Palmer Township shall furnish to the Township each quarter of the
calendar year (unless otherwise instructed by the recycling coordinator)
a recycling report specifying the materials recycled and the weight
of the materials recycled which were collected in Palmer Township.
Haulers shall furnish weight receipts for all residential recyclables
collected with the quarterly recycling report to the recycling coordinator.
The recycling coordinator may require other information, as needed,
to enhance recycling performance and to comply with DEP requests for
information as well as information needed by the Township to obtain
grants for the recycling program.
(5)
Persons participating in a curbside collection program
under this section shall recycle in conjunction with the program of
a licensed hauler of Palmer Township. Once the recyclables are placed
curbside, they become the property of the licensed hauler authorized
to collect them. (See Section 7 of Ordinance 236, the Palmer Township
Recycling Ordinance[3]). Any licensed hauler authorized to collect municipal
waste for residents in Palmer Township shall provide a curbside recycling
service to its residential customers within the Township. The licensed
hauler shall collect and market for recycling the recyclable materials
it collects from its residential curbside recycling service to residential
customers. Each licensed hauler shall market for recycling all of
the materials required to be recycled under this section of these
regulations. The licensed hauler shall not pick and choose among the
materials to be recycled. No licensed hauler shall landfill any recyclables
unless they are received at the point of collection in a contaminated
condition which makes them unmarketable. Failure to comply with any
of these provisions is a separate violation of the regulations and
may be construed as a separate violation for each time the violation
occurs or every day upon which the violation occurs.
(6)
Each licensed hauler in the municipality collecting
recyclables curbside shall give notice to his customers of the collection
dates, the recyclables to be collected, and the method of curbside
preparation.
B.
Preparation of recyclables.
(1)
The recyclables which are to be collected by a licensed
Palmer Township hauler shall be placed in a container marked in such
a way that it will he plainly evident that the contents of the container
are recyclable materials. All recyclables shall be commingled in the
recycling container with the exception of newsprint, grey paper, brown
paper, magazines, telephone books, third-class mail, and corrugated
paper, grass clippings, brush and leaf waste.
(a)
Newsprint should be bundled with twine and tied
in neat, flat bundles not exceeding 12 inches in height.
(b)
Bundle and bag third-class mail separately.
Label the brown bag "third-class mail."
(c)
Magazines may be bundled with twine in neat,
flat bundles not exceeding 12 inches in height or they may be bundled
and placed in brown bags.
(d)
Grey paper should be flattened and bundled with
twine.
(e)
Brown paper and corrugated boxes should be flattened
and bundled together. The bundles must not be larger than three feet
by three feet.
(f)
Grass clippings should be placed unbagged in
a trash receptacle.
(g)
Brush shall be tied in bundles not to exceed
three feet in length or 50 pounds in weight.
(2)
The Township recycling coordinator shall establish
policies for the preparation of leaf waste and its collection in Palmer
Township.
(3)
Paper items should not be placed outside unprotected
if rain is expected at the time of collection. In the event of rain,
any paper should be bundled and stored in a covered container labeled
in such a way that it will be plainly evident that the contents of
the container are recyclable materials.
(4)
The recyclable materials are to be prepared as follows:
rinse out all bottles, jars, pie tins, and cans and remove all lids
and caps. The glass to be collected shall include clear, green and
brown. (Broken glass, lightbulbs, window glass, plate glass, drinking
glass, heat-resistant ovenwear, crystal, ceramic, porcelain, laminated
glass, wired glass, blue glass, milk glass, automobile glass, and
mirrors are not be considered recyclable glass for the purposes of
the Palmer Township recycling program.)
C.
Frequency of collection. The frequency of collection
for these materials, other than grass clippings, leaf waste, and other
yard waste, by licensed haulers of Palmer Township shall not be less
than biweekly, except that one- or two-day differences are allowed
to accommodate holidays. Grass clippings, leaf waste and other yard
waste will be collected as needed on a seasonal basis.
D.
When recyclables are placed out for collection. The
recyclables shall be placed out at the curbside no earlier than 24
hours before the scheduled time of collection.
E.
Containers. Palmer Township shall make available one
recycling container to each household participating in the program
(i.e., persons living in homes, multifamily housing, rental housing
properties with three or less units, and other residential establishments
not otherwise classified). Additional containers may be available
from the Township. In the event that containers are not available
from the Township, the persons participating in this program shall
supply their own containers. Such containers shall have no greater
than a twenty-gallon capacity. The container shall be labeled plainly
in lettering no smaller than two inches indicating that the container
contains recyclable materials. If available, labels will be supplied
from the municipality.
This section establishes a recycling program
by the owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of multifamily
rental housing properties in Palmer Township with four or more units.
A.
Outline of program.
(1)
Act 101 requires that at least three items he chosen
from the following list to be recycled at multifamily rental housing
properties: clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic
cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastics
(Nos. 1 and 2). This list is restated in Section 4B of Ordinance 236,
the Palmer Township Recycling Ordinance.[1] The Township hereby requires that all of these items (except for high-grade office paper) be recycled. In addition, brown paper, grey paper, telephone books, magazines, third-class mail, grass clippings, leaf waste and other yard waste are hereby added to the items required to be recycled. The owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord shall set into operation a collection system for these recyclables.The program for recycling grass clippings, leaf waste and other yard waste may be conducted on a seasonal basis. [For an example of a program conducted on a seasonal basis, see § 156-27A(2) of this ordinance.]
(2)
The owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of multifamily housing properties with four or more units shall provide for the Palmer Township recycling coordinator an accounting showing the number of pounds or tons of recyclable materials marketed during the calendar year. The weight for each recyclable item shall be kept separately. Weight receipts should be collected and saved as documentation for the tonnage recycled. The owner, landlord, or agent of an owner or landlord shall be required to report this information concerning the recyclables listed in § 156-28A(1) above to the Township recycling coordinator.
(3)
If the owner, landlord or agent of any owner or landlord
hires a hauler licensed in Palmer Township to perform all or part
of his recycling, the licensed hauler shall report information concerning
the material recycled to the Palmer Township recycling coordinator,
in the same manner as required for residential collection. The owner,
landlord, or agent for an owner or landlord shall report information
concerning material recycled other than that collected by a licensed
Palmer Township hauler.
B.
Frequency of collection. The owner, landlord, or agent
for an owner or landlord shall provide for recyclables, other than
seasonal items, to be collected and transported to recycling facilities
at least once per month.
This section establishes a recycling program
by commercial, municipal and institutional establishments and at community
activities in Palmer Township.
A.
Outline of program.
(1)
Act 101 of 1988 requires that commercial businesses
must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, cardboard and leaf
waste for recycling and other materials deemed appropriate by the
municipality.
(2)
The following items shall be recycled by commercial, municipal, or institutional establishments and at community activities organized by these institutions: high-grade office paper, aluminum, clear glass, colored glass, cardboard, third-class mail, magazines, telephone books, brown paper, grey paper, bimetallic cans consisting of aluminum and steel, plastics Nos. 1 and 2, newspaper, grass clippings, leaf waste and other yard waste. The program for recycling grass clippings, leaf waste and other yard waste may be conducted on a seasonal basis. [For an example of a program conducted on a seasonal basis, see § 156-27A(2).]
(3)
If the recycling for a commercial, municipal, or institutional
establishment is done by a hauler licensed in the Township, the business
shall report to the Palmer Township Recycling Coordinator the name
of the hauler doing the recycling. In the event that the commercial,
municipal or institutional establishment arranges to have an individual
or a company other than a licensed hauler of Palmer Township transport
its recyclables to a processing center or a market, the commercial,
municipal or institutional establishment shall report this information
to the recycling coordinator in a quarterly recycling report on a
calendar-year basis. A summary annual report may also be required
at the end of the year. The establishment should also maintain weight
receipts to document the weight of recyclables marketed or instruct
its hauler to maintain these records. The recycling coordinator may
request copies of these receipts in order to document that the recyclable
materials have been marketed.
B.
Frequency of collection. Commercial, institutional,
and municipal establishments shall provide for recyclables, other
than seasonal items, to be collected and transported to recycling
facilities at least once a month.
C.
Reporting. Any hauler licensed by Palmer Township
that collects recyclables at commercial, municipal or institutional
establishments located in Palmer Township shall be required to furnish
a quarterly recycling report to the Township unless otherwise instructed
by the Palmer Township recycling coordinator. The report shall contain
the approximate weights and types of recyclables collected at these
facilities. The licensed hauler shall provide weight receipts to the
recycling coordinator on a quarterly basis to document the materials
recycled. If for any reason the licensed hauler fails to report for
his recycling customer, it shall become the responsibility of the
commercial, municipal or institutional establishment to provide a
report concerning the weight and types of the materials recycled to
the Palmer Township recycling coordinator for its recycling performance
which occurs after such notification is given.
[Amended 10-8-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-414]
All individuals and entities conducting community activities
held within Palmer Township's boundaries, regardless of who is
hosting the activity, shall recycle their recyclable materials in
accordance with Palmer Township's Recycling Program.
Palmer Township shall establish a comprehensive
public information and education program concerning the recycling
program. At least once every six months, Palmer Township shall advertise
the requirements of the ordinance to all persons occupying residential,
commercial, institutional and municipal premises within the Township.
Such advertisement may be completed through any combination of mailings,
public postings, community information programs and newspaper articles
or advertisements.
A.
Haulers licensed to collect municipal waste in Palmer
Township shall provide information as requested by the Palmer Township
recycling coordinator which is reasonably designed to show that the
recyclables collected in Palmer Township have been marketed for reuse
rather than landfilled with municipal waste. The Township shall receive
a recycling report quarterly from each licensed hauler signed by an
authorized representative to certify its accuracy unless the recycling
coordinator directs the hauler to furnish the reports less frequently.
Weight receipts are to be furnished with the quarterly report, along
with a summary showing the weight on each receipt and a total weight
of all the materials recycled during the quarter. The recycling coordinator
may also require a summary annual report on a calendar-year basis.
B.
Upon the request of the recycling coordinator, any
hauler licensed in the Township shall disclose to the Township the
names and addresses of its recycling customers within Palmer Township.
C.
The hauler shall provide written documentation of
the tonnage of recyclables marketed to the recycling coordinator in
sufficient detail so that the Township may meet the standards of the
Department of Environmental Protection for its annual reports required
of the Township as well as for completing DEP recycling grant applications.
All licensed haulers in Palmer Township shall
market the recyclable materials which they have collected from residences,
multifamily housing, rental housing properties with four or more units
and at commercial, municipal or institutional establishments within
the Township. No licensed hauler shall landfill any of these recyclable
materials unless they are received at the point of collection in a
contaminated condition which makes them unmarketable.
