[Adopted 9-25-1991 by Ord. No. 88]
The short title of this article shall be the "Township of Union
Recycling Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that manner.
The following words and phrases, used throughout this article,
shall have the following meanings:
All empty aluminum beverage or food cans.
Empty food or beverage containers consisting of steel and
aluminum.
Not exposed to foreign substances or conditions rendering
them unusable for recycling.
The entity or entities authorized by the municipality to
collect recyclable materials from residences or authorized by commercial,
municipal and institutional establishments which do not receive collection
services from the municipality collecting recyclable materials from
those properties.
Properties used primarily for commercial or industrial purposes
and multiple-dwelling residential buildings containing more than four
dwelling units.
Structural paper material with inner core shaped in rigid
parallel furrows and ridges.
Empty steel or tin-coated food or beverage containers.
Bottles and jars made of clear, green or brown glass. Expressly
excluded are noncontainer glass, plate glass, automotive glass, light
bulbs, blue glass, porcelain and ceramic products.
All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial,
institutional and municipal establishments and in residences.
Those facilities that house or serve groups of people, including,
but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, day-care
centers, schools and universities.
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residues,
chipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including grass clippings.
Printed matter containing miscellaneous written pieces published
at fixed or varying intervals. Expressly excluded are all other paper
products of any nature whatsoever.
Any properties having four or more dwelling units per structure.
Public facilities operated by the municipality and other
governmental and quasi-governmental authorities.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial, lunchroom or other material,
including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material,
resulting from operation of residential, municipal, commercial or
institutional establishments and from community activities, and any
sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous waste in
the Solid Waste Management Act[1] from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply
treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control
facility. The term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
The Township of Union.
Paper of the type commonly referred to as newsprint and distributed
at fixed intervals, having printed thereon news and opinions, advertisements
and other matters of public interest. Expressly excluded are newspapers
which have been soiled, color comics, glossy advertising inserts and
advertising inserts (often included with newspapers) and printed in
colors other than black and white.
Owners, lessees and occupants of residences and of commercial,
municipal and institutional establishments.
Empty plastic food and beverage containers. Due to the wide
variety of types of plastics, the municipality may stipulate specific
types of plastic which may be recycled.
Materials generated by residences and commercial, municipal
and institutional establishments which are specified by the municipality
and can be separated from municipal waste and returned to commerce
to be reused as a resource in the development of useful products.
Recyclable materials may include, but are not necessarily limited
to, clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans,
high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper, leaf waste,
plastics and any other items selected by the municipality or specified
in future revisions to Act 101.[2] The list of recyclable materials selected by the municipality
may be revised from time to time as deemed necessary by the municipality.
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which
would otherwise be disposed of or processed as municipal waste or
the mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste (other
than through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials.
Any occupied single-family or multifamily dwellings having
up to four dwelling units per structure for which the municipality
provides municipal waste collection service.
Those materials separated at the point of origin for the
purpose of being recycled.
A 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 by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection for beneficial use.
A.
The Township of Union hereby establishes a recycling program for
the mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials and
the separation, collection and composting of leaf waste from all residences
and all commercial, municipal and institutional establishments located
in the municipality for which waste collection is provided by the
Township or any other collector. Collection of the recyclable materials
shall be make at least once per month by the municipality, its designated
agent, or any other solid waste collector operating in the Township
and authorized to collect recyclable materials from residences or
from commercial, municipal and institutional establishments. The recycling
program shall contain a public information and education program.
B.
Specific program regulations are provided as an attachment to this
article.[1] The Board of Supervisors is empowered to make changes to program regulations as necessary, as described in § 218-10. Subsequent changes in the program regulations may be make through approval of the Board of Supervisors and public notice and notice to all affected parties.
[1]
Editor's Note: Recycling regulations are on file and available
in the Township offices.
All persons who are residents of the Township of Union shall
separate all of those recyclable materials designated by the Township
from all other municipal waste produced at their homes, apartments
and other residential establishments; store such materials for collection;
and place same for collection in accordance with the guidelines established
hereunder.
A.
Persons in residences must separate recyclable materials from other
refuse. Recyclable materials shall be placed at the curbside in containers
provided by the municipality for collection. Any containers provided
to residences for collection of recyclable materials shall be the
property of the municipality and shall be used only for the collection
of recyclable materials. Any resident who moves within or from the
Township shall be responsible for returning the allocated container(s)
to the municipality or shall pay the replacement cost of said container(s).
Use of recycling containers for any purpose other than the designated
recycling program or use of the recycling containers by any person
other than the person allocated such container(s) shall be a violation
of this article.
B.
An owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of a multifamily
rental housing property with more than four units may comply with
his recycling responsibilities by establishing a collection system
at each property. The collection system must include suitable containers
for collecting and sorting the recyclable materials, easily accessible
locations for the containers, and written instructions to the occupants
concerning the use and availability of the collection system. Owners,
landlords and agents of owners or landlords who comply with this article
shall not be liable for noncompliance by occupants of their buildings.
If recyclable materials are collected by a collector other than the
Township or its authorized agent, owners, landlord and agents of owner
or landlords shall submit an annual report to the Township reporting
the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year.
C.
Persons must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated
paper, leaf waste and such other materials as may be designated by
the Township, generated at commercial, municipal and institutional
establishments and from community activities, and store the recyclable
materials until collection. A person may be exempt from this subsection
if that person annually submits documentation to the Township indicating
that the designated recyclable materials are to be recycled in an
appropriate manner.
D.
If recyclable materials are collected by a collector other than the
municipality or its authorized agent, occupants of said establishments
shall submit an annual report to the Township reporting the tonnage
of materials recycled during the previous year.
All recyclable materials placed by person for collection by the Township or authorized collector pursuant to this article shall, from time of placement at the curb, become the property of the Township or the authorized collector, except as otherwise provided by § 280-8 of this article. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to impair the ownership of separated recyclable materials by the generator unless and until such materials are placed at the curbside for collection.
It shall be a violation of this article for any person, firm
or corporation, other than the municipality or one authorized by the
Board of Supervisors, or other entity responsible for providing for
collection of recyclable materials, to collect recyclable materials
placed by residences or commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
for collection by the Township or an authorized collector, unless
such person, firm or corporation has prior written permission from
the generator to make such collection. Each unauthorized collection
in violation hereof from one or more residences or commercial, municipal
and institutional establishments on one calendar day shall constitute
a separate and distinct offense punishable as hereinafter provided.
Any residence or commercial, municipal or institutional establishment
may donate or self-recyclable materials to any person, firm or corporation,
whether operating for profit or not, provided that the receiving person,
firm or corporation shall not collect such donated recyclable materials
from the collection point of a residence or commercial, municipal
or institutional establishment without prior written permission from
the Board of Supervisors or other entity responsible for authorizing
collection of recyclable materials to make such collection.
Disposal of recyclable materials with waste is prohibited and
shall be a violation of this article. The collected recyclable materials
shall be taken to a recycling facility. Disposal by collectors or
operators of recycling facilities of source-separated recyclable materials
in landfills or by burning in incinerators is prohibited unless markets
do not exist and the collectors or operators have notified the Board
of Supervisors in writing.
The Board of Supervisors is hereby authorized and directed to
make reasonable rules and regulations for the operation and enforcement
of this article as deemed necessary, including but not limited to:
A.
Establishing categories of recyclable materials to be separated for
collection and recycling by residences and additional recyclable materials
to be separated by commercial, municipal and institutional establishments.
B.
Establishing collection procedures for recyclable materials.
C.
Establishing reporting procedures for amount of materials recycled.
D.
Establishing procedures for the distribution, monitoring and collection
from recycling containers.
E.
Establishing procedures and rules for the collection of leaf waste.
F.
Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this
article shall receive, for the first and second offense, an official
written warning of noncompliance. Thereafter, all such violations
shall be subject to the penalties hereinafter provided.
G.
Except as hereinafter provided, any person, firm or corporation violating
any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction in a
summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under
the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.
Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further,
the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized
to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance
herewith.[1]
H.
The Township reserves the fight not to collect municipal waste containing
recyclable materials mixed with nonrecyclable materials.
The Township may enter into (an) agreement(s) with public or
private agencies or firms to authorize them to collect all or part
of the recyclable materials from curbside.
The Township may from time to time modify the standards and regulations herein and as authorized in § 218-9.
