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:
ALUMINUM
Empty all-aluminum beverage or food cans, pie plates and
aluminum foil wrap.
CLEAN RECYCLABLES
Not exposed to foreign substances or conditions rendering
them unusable for recycling.
COLLECTOR
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.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial
purposes and those multiple-dwelling residential buildings containing
more than 12 dwelling units.
CORRUGATED PAPER
Structural paper material with an inner core shaped in rigid
parallel furrows and ridges.
GLASS 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.
HIGH-GRADE OFFICE PAPER
All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial,
institutional and municipal establishments and in residences.
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
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.
LEAF WASTE
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residues,
chipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including grass clippings.
MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS
Printed matter containing miscellaneous written pieces published
at fixed or varying intervals. Expressly excluded are all other paper
products of any nature whatsoever.
MUNICIPAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any properties operated by the City and other governmental
and quasi-governmental authorities.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
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.
NEWSPAPERS
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.
PERSON(S)
Owners, lessees and occupants of residences and owners or
occupiers of commercial, municipal, institutional establishments and
multifamily properties.
PLASTIC CONTAINERS
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.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
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.
RECYCLING
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.
RESIDENCES
Any occupied single-family or multifamily dwellings having
up to six dwelling units per structure for which the City provides
municipal waste collection service.
WASTE
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.
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.
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.