[Adopted 3-14-1990 by Ord. No. 90-2 (Ch. 20, Part 3 of the 1994 Code)]
A. 
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has enacted Act 101 of 1988, (the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act[1]). Each municipality has the authority and duty to assure proper and adequate transportation, collection and disposal of municipal solid waste which is generated or present within its boundaries and to adopt and implement programs for the collection and recycling of source-separated recyclable materials as provided in the act.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
B. 
Spring Garden Township believes that the reduction of the amount of solid waste and conservation of recyclable materials is an important public concern and is necessary to implement the requirements of Pennsylvania Act 101, the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988 and the York County Solid Waste Management Plan. The separation and collection of used newspaper, paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, cans and leaf waste for recycling from the residential, commercial and institutional establishments in this Township will minimize the adverse environmental effects of landfilling by reducing the need for landfills and conserving existing landfill capacity; facilitate the implementation and operation of other forms of resource recovery called for by the York County Solid Waste Management Plan; conserve natural resources; and hopefully help control the escalating costs of solid waste disposal generally.
C. 
As a goal, the Township will endeavor to recycle 25% or more of its municipal solid waste by January 1, 1997.
[Amended 12-14-1994 by Ord. No. 94-5]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms, phrases or words shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context in which the word is used clearly indicates otherwise.
ALUMINUM CANS
Empty all-aluminum, aerosol and nonaerosol beverage and food containers.
BIMETAL OR STEEL CANS
Aerosol and nonaerosol food or beverage containers consisting of all steel or of ferrous sides and bottom and an aluminum top (sometimes called "tin" cans).
CARDBOARD
All corrugated or other cardboard normally used for packing, mailing, shipping or containerizing goods, merchandise or other material, but excluding plastic, foam, or wax-coated or soiled cardboard.
COLLECTOR
That individual, partnership, firm, corporation or business entity designated by the Township by means of an independent contract as the person having the exclusive right and privilege to collect, haul, carry or remove municipal solid waste and/or recyclable materials from dwelling units and small commercial establishments within the Township.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Those properties used primarily for business purposes. Small commercial establishments are those that have a low volume of solid waste and utilize the Township-contracted solid waste and recycling service. Large commercial establishments are those with large volumes of solid waste who contract privately for solid waste and recycling services.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Events sponsored in whole or in part by a municipality, or conducted within a municipality and sponsored privately, which include, but are not limited to, fairs, bazaars, socials, picnics and organized sporting events that will be attended by 200 or more individuals per day.
[Added 6-12-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-05]
COMPOSTING
A microbial degradation of organic waste to produce a relatively nuisance-free product of potential value as a soil conditioner.
DWELLING
A building used for residential living quarters for one or more families except hotels, motels, rooming houses, convalescent homes and tourist homes or other accommodations used for transient occupancy.
DWELLING UNIT
A building or portion thereof arranged or designed for occupancy by not more than one family for living purposes and having cooking facilities.
FERROUS CONTAINERS
All empty steel or tin-coated steel food or beverage containers.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
GLASS CONTAINER
All empty bottles and jars made of clear, green or brown glass, but not including noncontainer glass, light bulbs, window or door plate glass, mirrors, porcelain and ceramic products.
HIGH-GRADE OFFICE PAPER
All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial, institutional and municipal establishments and in residences.
[Amended 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Those facilities that house or serve groups of people, such as hospitals, schools, colleges and nursing homes.
LEAD ACID BATTERIES
Includes but is not limited to automotive, truck and industrial batteries that contain lead.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
LEAF WASTES
Leaves, garden residues, shrubbery and tree trimmings, and similar materials, but not including grass clippings.
MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS
Printed matter consisting of usually glossy pages bound in some fashion containing miscellaneous written pieces published at fixed or varying intervals, excluding all other paper products of any nature whatsoever.
MULTIPLE-FAMILY-DWELLING PROPERTY
Any property having three or more dwelling units per structure.
MUNICIPAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any public facility operated by the Township or other governmental or quasi-governmental authority.
NEWSPAPER
Paper of the type commonly referred to as newsprint and distributed at fixed intervals, having printed thereon news and other matters of public interest, inserts included with newspapers, not including magazines and periodicals and not including high-grade office paper.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, associations, institution, cooperative enterprise, municipality, municipal authority, federal government institution or agency, state institution or agency or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. It shall also mean owner, lessee or occupant of a residential dwelling, commercial establishment or institutional establishment. In any provision of this article prescribing a fine, imprisonment or penalty, or any combination thereof, the term "person" shall include the officers and directors of any corporation or other legal entity having officers and directors.
PLASTIC CONTAINER
Empty and clean plastic bottle, jug or jar, most commonly, but not limited to, plastic containers used to hold food, beverages, household cleaning products and personal care products.
[Amended 6-12-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-05]
POST-CONSUMER MATERIAL
Any product generated by a business or consumer which has served its intended end use and which has been separated or diverted from solid waste for the purposes of collection, recycling and disposition. The term includes industrial by-products that would otherwise go to disposal or processing facilities. The term does not include internally generated scrap that is commonly returned to industrial or manufacturing processes.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
RECYCLABLE MATERIAL
Those materials which may be processed or refabricated for reuse and which are specified by the Township for separation from the regular solid waste.
RECYCLE
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastic and other materials which would otherwise be disposed of or processed as municipal solid waste.
RECYCLING BIN
The plastic container provided by Spring Garden Township for the express purpose of storing recyclable materials for collection by the Township's collector.
RESIDENTIAL DWELLING
Any occupied single-family, two-family or multifamily dwelling property for which the Township provides municipal solid waste collection service.
SOLID WASTE
Garbage, trash, ashes, refuse and other discarded solid materials whose original purpose has been completed.
SOURCE SEPARATION
To separate recyclable materials from the solid waste stream at the point of waste generation.
TOWNSHIP
Spring Garden Township, York County, Pennsylvania, or its authorized representative or representatives.
WASTE
Material whose original purpose has been completed and which is directed to a disposal or processing facility or is otherwise disposed. The term does not include source separated recyclable materials or material approved for beneficial use.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
[Amended 6-12-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-05[1]]
There is hereby established in the Township a mandatory source-separation and collection program for recyclable materials from garbage. All persons, including but not limited to residential dwellings, commercial establishments, institutional establishments and municipal establishments are required to recycle and separate for separate collection all recyclable materials and leaf waste from garbage. Any nonresidential dwelling not using the contractor selected by the Township shall independently contract with a hauler for the collection of recyclables as provided herein.
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also amended the section titles of §§ 260-12 through 260-15 to change the word "disposal" to the word "management."
[Amended 12-14-1994 by Ord. No. 94-5]
A. 
Recyclable materials for residential dwellings and small commercial establishments are aluminum cans, bimetal or steel cans, clear and colored glass containers, plastic containers, newspaper and magazines. Commercial establishments are also required to recycle high-grade office paper and cardboard.
[Amended 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
B. 
Recyclable materials from residential dwellings and small commercial establishments shall be placed in recycling bins either at the public street or alley edge where solid waste is normally placed but separate from solid waste for collection.
C. 
At such times and dates as may be established by the Township, recyclable materials for residential dwellings and small commercial establishments shall be collected once every week unless the collection day is one of the following holidays, in which case the collection that day will be omitted: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.
D. 
Recyclable materials for residential dwellings and small commercial establishments shall be prepared for collection as follows:
(1) 
All newspaper and magazines shall be placed in brown paper bags or tied with string in bundles not exceeding 35 pounds in weight nor exceeding one foot in thickness.
(2) 
Glass and plastic containers shall have caps and lids removed and discarded and then should be rinsed free of contaminates.
(3) 
Aluminum cans and bimetal or steel cans should be rinsed free of contaminates.
(4) 
Glass and plastic containers, aerosol cans, aluminum cans and bimetal or steel cans shall be placed in the bin or bins provided by the Township. No solid waste shall be placed in the recycling bin.
(5) 
No recyclable materials shall be placed at the street or alley side earlier than 7:00 p.m. the evening of the day preceding a scheduled collection day. Recyclable materials must be placed by 7:00 a.m. on the scheduled collection day. The bundled newspapers, magazines and the recycling bins containing glass and plastic containers and cans shall be placed at the street or alley side for collection adjacent to one another and clearly separated from containers of solid waste.
Instead of having each dwelling unit use a separate recycling bin, the owners landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of multifamily dwelling properties may establish a centralized collection system for recyclable materials at each structure upon written approval of the Township Manager. Recyclable materials for multifamily-dwelling properties are the same as those of other residential dwellings. The collection systems must include suitable containers for collecting and sorting materials, easily accessible locations for the containers, and written instructions to occupants concerning the use and availability of the collection systems. Owners, landlords, and agents who comply with this section shall not be liable for noncompliance of occupants of their buildings.
[Amended 10-12-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-08]
A. 
Large commercial, institutional and municipal establishments shall separate and store recyclable materials until collection. These establishments shall arrange for the transfer of recyclable materials to a recycling system or recycling facility.
B. 
All large commercial, municipal, and institutional establishments are required to recycle the following materials in accordance with Act No. 1988 - 101, known as the "Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act" (the Act):[1]
(1) 
Aluminum cans.
(2) 
Steel cans.
(3) 
Cardboard.
(4) 
Office paper.
(5) 
Newsprint.
(6) 
Plastics.
(7) 
Glass (clear and/or colored).
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
C. 
All large commercial, municipal, and institutional establishments are required to report to Spring Garden Township the amount of waste generated as well as recycling data for all recycled materials for the previous calendar year as per Spring Garden Township's Commercial Recycling Report and in accordance with the Act. The Commercial Recycling Report is due to the Township by January 15 of every year.
D. 
Recyclables are collected at a frequency of at least once per month at large commercial, institutional, and municipal establishments. Spring Garden Township requires persons to separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated paper and leaf waste and other materials deemed appropriate by the municipality generated at commercial, municipal, or institutional establishments and from community activities.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
A. 
All persons who reside in residential dwellings and all persons responsible for the management or operation of multifamily-dwelling properties, commercial, municipal and institutional establishments who gather leaf waste shall source-separate all leaf wastes and place them for collection in the fall and once in the spring of the year in a pile or row in the street (not in the traffic lanes but about one foot out from the edge of any existing curbing). This will allow safe passage of vehicles and allow proper stormwater drainage. Collection will be done by the Township on a scheduled basis during the fall of each year.
[Amended 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
B. 
This section shall not require any person to gather leaf waste or prevent any person from utilizing leaf waste for compost, mulch or other legal agricultural, horticultural, gardening or landscape purposes.
C. 
Spring Garden Township requires persons to separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated paper and leaf waste and other materials deemed appropriate by the municipality generated at commercial, municipal, or Institutional establishments and from community activities.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
The Township may enter into a collection contract with a collector for collection of all or part of recyclable materials from the Township.
No person other than the Township-designated collector shall collect or pick up or cause to be collected or picked up any recyclable material from residential dwellings and small commercial establishments that has been placed for curbside pickup within the Township or dispose of the same in any manner. Each such collection or pickup in violation hereof shall constitute a separate and distinct offense punishable as hereinafter provided.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for:
(1) 
Any person to violate or to cause or to assist in the violation of any provision of this article or any provision of Pennsylvania Act 101 concerning recycling.
(2) 
Any person to place or to cause to be placed any material other than a designated recyclable in a recycling bin.
(3) 
Any person to hinder, to obstruct, to prevent or to interfere with the Township or designated collector in the performance of any duty under this article or in the enforcement of this article.
(4) 
Any person to cause or to allow their pets to cause recyclable materials to be scattered or spilled from recycling bins or bundles that have been placed for collection.
(5) 
Theft of recycling bins.
(6) 
Willful damage to and/or unauthorized use of recycling bins.
(7) 
Any person to burn recyclable materials, including leaf waste, collected in Spring Garden Township.
[Added 6-12-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03]
B. 
All unlawful conduct set forth in § 260-18 shall constitute a public nuisance.
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any resident of the Township may donate or sell any recyclable material to any other person; provided, however, that the person receiving the recyclable material does recycle it and does not under any circumstances collect the donated or sold recyclable material from the curbside. All recycling bins and newspaper bundles placed at the curbside are deemed to be containing recyclable materials intended for the Township-designated collector.
A. 
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to interfere with or in any way modify the provisions of any existing contract which is consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in force in the Township on the effective date of this article.
B. 
No renewal of any existing contract upon the expiration of the original term thereof and no new contract for the collection, transportation, processing or purchase of solid waste or recyclables shall be entered into after the effective date of this article unless such renewal or such contract shall conform to the requirements of this article.
Any person who fails to comply with any provision of this article shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than $25 or more than $600 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment thereof, shall be imprisoned not more than 30 days. Each continuing day of violation of this article shall constitute a separate offense.