This article shall be known and referred to as the "City of
Washington Recycling Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that
manner.
The following words and phrases, as used in this article, shall
have the meaning ascribed to them herein unless the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
Empty all-aluminum beverage or food cans, pie plates and
aluminum foil wrap.
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 that do not receive collection
services from the City to collect recyclable materials from those
properties.
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial
purposes and those multiple-dwelling residential buildings containing
more than 12 dwelling units.
Structural paper material with an 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 and 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, universities and churches.
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 six dwelling units per structure.
Any properties operated by the City and other governmental
and quasi-governmental authorities.
Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or office waste
and 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 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 City of Washington.
Paper of the type commonly referred to as newsprint and distributed
at fixed intervals, having printed thereon news and opinions, containing
advertisements and other matters of public interest. Expressly excluded
are newspapers which have been soiled, color comics, glossy advertising
inserts and advertising inserts printed in colors other than black
and white often included with newspapers.
Owners, lessees and occupants of residences and owners or
occupiers of commercial, municipal, institutional establishments and
multifamily properties.
Empty plastic food and beverage containers. Due to the wide
variety of types of plastics, the City 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 City 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 City or specified in future revisions
to Act 101. The recyclable materials selected by the City may be revised
from time to time as deemed necessary by the City.
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which
would otherwise be disposed 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 six dwelling units per structure for which the City 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 City of Washington 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 City for which waste collection is provided by the City or
any other collector. Collection of the recyclable materials shall
be made at least once per month by the City, its designated agent,
or any other solid waste collectors operating in the City and authorized
to collect recyclable materials from residences or from commercial,
municipal and institutional establishments. The recycling program
shall also contain a sustained public information and education program.
B.
Disposal by persons of lead acid batteries with other municipal waste
is prohibited and shall be a violation of this article.
C.
Specific program regulations are provided as an attachment to this
article.[1] The City Council is empowered to make changes to program regulations as necessary, as described in § 294-41. Subsequent changes in the program regulations may be made through approval of the City Council and public notification of all affected parties.
[1]
Editor's Note: The program regulations are on file in the
City's offices.
A.
All persons owning or occupying property in the City of Washington
shall separate all of those recyclable materials designated by the
City from all other municipal waste produced at their homes, apartments
and other residential establishments, store such materials for collection,
and shall place same for collection in accordance with the guidelines
established hereunder.
(1)
Persons in residences must separate recyclable materials from other
refuse. Recyclable materials shall be placed at the curbside in containers
provided by the City for collection. Any containers provided to residences
for collection of recyclable materials shall be the property of the
City and shall be used only for the collection of recyclable materials.
Any resident who moves within or from the City shall be responsible
for returning the allocated container(s) to the City or the property
owner. 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. The owner or landlord shall be responsible
for the replacement of containers.
(2)
An owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of a multifamily
rental housing property with more than six units may comply with its
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 of occupants of their buildings.
B.
All persons must separate leaf waste from other municipal waste generated
at their houses, apartments and other residential establishments for
collection unless those persons have otherwise provided for composting
of leaf waste.
C.
Persons, including, but not limited to, City, county and state government,
their agencies, hospitals, schools and any other institution or business,
nonprofit or otherwise, must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum,
corrugated paper, leaf waste and such other materials as may be designated
by the City generated at commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
and from community activities and store the recyclable materials until
collection. A person may be exempted from this subsection if that
person submits documentation to the City annually indicating that
the designated recyclable materials are being recycled in an appropriate
manner consistent with Department of Environmental Protection and/or
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania rules, regulations or mandates.
(1)
Commercial, municipal, institutional and owners of multifamily dwelling
establishments, as aforesaid, are required to provide recycling containers
unless otherwise designated by the City of Washington.
All recyclable materials placed by persons for collection by the City or authorized collector pursuant to this article shall, from time of placement at the curb, become the property of the City or the authorized collector, except as otherwise provided by § 294-36 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 City or one authorized by the City
Council 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 City or an authorized collector, unless such person, firm or
corporation has prior written permission from the generator to make
such collection. In violation hereof, unauthorized collection 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 sell 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 establishment without prior written permission from the City
Council or other entity responsible for authorizing collection of
recyclable materials to make such a collection.
Disposal by persons of recyclable materials with wastes 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 to be burned in incinerators is prohibited
unless markets do not exist and the collectors or operators have notified
the City Council in writing.
A.
The City Council 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:
(1)
Establishing recyclable materials to be separated for collection
and recycling by residences, and additional recyclable materials to
be separated by commercial, municipal and institutional establishments.
(2)
Establishing collection procedures for recyclable materials.
(3)
Establishing reporting procedures for amounts of materials recycled.
(4)
Establishing procedures for the distribution, monitoring and collection
of recyclable containers.
(5)
Establishing procedures and rules for the collection of leaf waste.
B.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate the provisions
of this article shall receive an official written warning of noncompliance
for the first offense. Thereafter, all such violations shall be subject
to the penalties hereinafter provided.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, any person, firm or corporation who
shall violate any part of the provisions of this article shall, upon
conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $500 nor more
than $1,000 and costs of persecution for each and every offense.
D.
The City reserves the right not to collect municipal waste containing
recyclable materials in combination with nonrecyclable materials.
The City 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 City may, from time to time, modify, add to or remove from the standards and regulations herein and as authorized in § 294-39.
