Regulations to implement the recycling program are authorized by §
164-7 of Article
I, Recycling Program. The regulations address two waste generation sectors as required by specific sections of Pennsylvania Act 101 of 1988; 53 P.S. § 4000.1501 et seq.
A. Residential [53 P.S. § 4000.1501(c)(1)(i)].
B. Commercial, municipal or institutional establishments and community
activities [53 P.S. § 4000.1501(c)(1)(iii)].
Act 101 requires that a source separation and recycling program
be established for commercial, institutional, municipal facilities
and for community activities.
A. Materials to recycle.
(1) Act 101 specifies that high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated
paper and leaf waste and other material deemed appropriate by the
Borough shall be kept separate from waste at commercial, municipal
or institutional establishments and from community activities.
(2) Each commercial, municipal and institutional establishment receiving
private waste collection service is advised that the following items,
as a minimum, must be kept separate from the waste stream:
B. Instructions for the proper preparation of materials for collection.
Materials shall be properly prepared for collection in a manner satisfactory
to the private recyclable collector.
C. Collection system. A collection system must be established for each
of the recycled materials. Establishments receiving private waste
collection service shall look first for recycling collection service
from the private waste collector because the license issued by the
Borough to the collector requires that recycling collection services
be provided to each customer. The waste collector can provide the
service directly for all materials or provide an alternate collection
service for a particular material. This may be true for facilities
that generate substantial quantities of high-grade office paper. Material
shall be collected as frequently as necessary to prevent storage problems
and at the same time provide for economic service.
D. Reporting system.
(1) Act 101 authorizes the municipality to exempt commercial, municipal
or institutional establishments and community activities from receiving
recycling service from the municipality, provided that each establishment
submits reports on the quantity of material recycled. Such written
documentation must be provided annually.
(2) The source separation and recycling report for commercial and institutional
and community activities shall be prepared on a form issued by the
Borough. This report must be filed with the Borough on or before January
31 of each year. The report shall include the quantities of each material
collected for recycling and the location at which each material was
marketed. Weight slips or other means to verify quantities recycled
shall accompany the report. If the private waste collector is utilized
as the recycler, the collector must provide weight slips to their
customers indicating where the material was marketed.
[Amended 2-17-2015 by Ord. No. 1-2015]
E. Provisions to ensure compliance with the Municipal Recycling Ordinance.
Incentives and penalties are necessary to ensure that the source separation
and recycling program succeeds.
(1) Incentives.
(a)
Recycling is seen as the means to reduce waste service costs
to customers regardless who provides the waste service. The Borough's
strategy has as its overall objective the placement of responsibility
for the recycling service with the individual establishment rather
than on the general taxpayer. This is intended to place any costs
for the service directly upon the establishment requiring the service
rather than spread costs for the system inequitably across taxpayers.
This is considered a very strong financial incentive.
(b)
Incentives within each establishment to encourage separation
of materials by personnel are also very important. A variety of incentives,
such as direct rewards achieved from the sale of materials, extra
hours or overtime for this in-house recycling service, promotions,
etc., are encouraged.
(2) Penalties. The Borough's Recycling Ordinance, §
164-8 of Article
I, provides for penalties for violation of that article.
(a)
Any action by any person, firm, corporation or other entity which violates or does not comply with any provision of this article, or any regulation thereof, shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $100 upon a first conviction and $300 upon a second or subsequent conviction. The above fines shall not be applicable to a conviction for §
164-5 which shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500. No enforcement of §§
164-3,
164-4 and
164-6 of Article
I shall be made until three months from the effective date of regulations authorized to be promulgated hereunder. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity upon conviction thereof shall in addition to paying any fine imposed hereunder, shall be responsible for paying the Borough's costs of prosecution, including reasonable attorney's fees.
[Amended 2-17-2015 by Ord. No. 1-2015]
(b)
Each firm and its private waste collector are considered liable
for prosecution for violation of the Recycling Ordinance.
F. Public information. Personnel in each establishment shall be informed
of the requirements of the source separation and recycling program
and individual responsibilities. Each firm shall be required to display
information provided by the Borough regarding the recycling program.
Each firm shall inform employees of the firm's recycling program
through memos, staff meetings, surveys and other conventional means.