The following words, when used in this Part, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this Part, the singular shall include the plural, and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
ABATEMENTThe restoration, reclamation or recovery of a natural resource adversely affected by the activity of a person.
AGRICULTURAL WASTEPoultry and livestock manure, or residual materials in liquid or solid form generated in the production and marketing of poultry, livestock, fur-bearing animals, and their products, provided that such agricultural waste is not hazardous. The term includes the residual materials generated in producing, harvesting, and marketing of all agronomic, horticultural, aquacultural and silvicultural crops or commodities grown on what are usually recognized and accepted as farms, forests, or other agricultural lands. (The term also includes materials in liquid or solid form generated in the production and marketing of fish or fish hatcheries.)
ACT 97The Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980 (P.L. 380, No. 97, July 7, 1980) (see 35 P. S. § 6018.101 et seq., as amended).
ACT 101The Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (SB 528, Act 1988-101, July 1988) (see 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq., as amended).
ALUMINUMAll empty aluminum beverage or food cans.
AQUACULTUREThe practice of raising plants or animals, such as fish or shellfish, in man-made or natural bodies of water.
BENEFICIAL USEUse or reuse of residual waste or residual material derived from residual waste for commercial, industrial or governmental purposes, where the use does not harm or threaten public health, safety, welfare or the environment.
BIMETAL CONTAINERSEmpty food or beverage containers consisting of two metals, such as steel and aluminum or steel and tin.
BULKY WASTELarge items of solid waste, including, but not limited to, appliances, furniture, large auto parts, trees, branches or stumps, which may require special handling due to their size, shape or weight.
COMBUSTIBLE REFUSEAll paper, straw, excelsior, rags, rubbish, shoes and such other refuse as may result from ordinary housekeeping or commercial pursuits and which may be burned.
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTAny establishment engaged in nonmanufacturing or nonprocessing business, including, but not limited to, stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, shopping centers and theaters.
COMMISSIONThe Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and its authorized representatives.
COMMONWEALTH AGENCYThe commonwealth and its departments, boards, commissions and agencies, commonwealth-owned universities, and the State Public School Building Authority, the State Highway and Bridge Authority, and any other authority now in existence or hereafter created or organized by the commonwealth.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIESEvents that are sponsored by public or private agencies or individuals, which include, but are not limited to, fairs, bazaars, socials, picnics and organized sporting events attended by 200 or more individuals per day.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION WASTESolid waste resulting from the construction or demolition of buildings and other structures, including, but not limited to, wood, plaster, metals, asphaltic substances, bricks, block and unsegregated concrete. The term does not include the following if they are separate from other waste and are used as clean fill:
A. Uncontaminated soil, rock, stone, gravel, brick and block and concrete and used asphalt.
Waste from land clearing, grubbing and excavation, including trees, brush, stumps and vegetative materials.
CORRUGATED PAPERStructural paper material with an inner core shaped in rigid parallel furrows and ridges.
DEPARTMENTThe Department of Environmental Protection of the commonwealth and its authorized representatives.
DISPOSALThe incineration, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of solid waste into or on the land or water in a manner that the solid waste enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
FACILITYAll land, structures and other appurtenances or improvements where municipal or residual waste disposal or processing is permitted or takes place, or where hazardous waste is treated, stored or disposed.
FOOD PROCESSING WASTEResidual materials in liquid or solid form generated in the slaughtering of poultry and livestock or in processing and converting fish, seafood, milk, meat, and eggs to food products; it also means residual materials generated in the processing, converting, or manufacturing of fruits, vegetables, crops and other commodities into marketable food items.
GARBAGEAll table, refuse, animal and vegetable matter, offal from meat, fish and fowl, vegetables and fruits and parts thereof, and other articles and materials ordinarily used for food and which have become unfit for such use or which are for any reason discarded or the animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, and consumption of foods.
GLASS CONTAINERSBottles 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 PAPERBond, copier, letterhead or mimeograph paper typically sold as "white ledger" paper and computer paper.
HOST MUNICIPALITYThe municipality other than the county within which a municipal waste landfill or resource-recovery facility is located or is proposed to be located.
INCOMBUSTIBLE REFUSEAll discarded articles or materials, except sewage, liquid waste, garbage and combustible refuse.
INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTAny establishment engaged in manufacturing or processing, including, but not limited to, factories, foundries, mills, processing plants, refineries, mines and slaughterhouses.
LEAF WASTELeaves from trees, bushes, shrubs and other plants, garden residues, chipped or clipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including grass clippings.
LOCAL PUBLIC AGENCYA. Counties, cities, boroughs, towns, school districts and any other authority now in existence or hereafter created or organized by the commonwealth.
All municipal or school or other authorities now in existence or hereafter created or organized by any county, city, borough, or school district, or any combination thereof.
Any and all other public bodies, authorities, councils of government, officers, or agencies or instrumentalities of the foregoing, whether exercising a governmental or proprietary function.
MANAGEMENTThe entire process, or any part thereof, of storage, collection, transportation, processing, treatment and disposal of solid wastes by any person engaging in such process.
MUNICIPAL ESTABLISHMENTPublic facilities operated by the municipality and other governmental and quasi-governmental authorities.
MUNICIPAL RECYCLING PROGRAMA source-separation and collection program for recycling municipal waste or source-separated recyclable materials, or a program for designated dropoff points or collection centers for recycling municipal waste of source-separated recyclable materials, that is operated by or on behalf of a municipality. The term includes any source-separation and collection program for composting yard, waste that is operated by or on behalf of a municipality. The term shall not include any program for recycling construction/demolition waste or sludge from sewage treatment plants or water supply treatment plants.
MUNICIPAL WASTEAny 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 under Act 97 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.
MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILLAny facility that is designated, operated or maintained for the disposal of municipal waste, whether or not such facility possesses a permit from the Department under the Solid Waste Management Act. The term shall not include any facility that is used exclusively for disposal of construction/demolition waste or sludge from sewage treatments plants or water supply treatment plants.
NEWSPAPERPaper 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.
OCCUPIED DWELLINGA permanent structure, building or fixed mobile home that is currently being used on a regular or temporary basis for human habitation.
OPERATORA person engaged in solid waste processing or disposal. Where more than one is so engaged in a single operation, all persons shall be deemed jointly and severally responsible for compliance with the provisions of this Part.
PERSONAny individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution, cooperative enterprise, municipal authority, federal government or agency, state institution or agency, or any other legal entity which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. In any provisions of this Part prescribing a fine, imprisonment or penalty, or any combination of the foregoing, the term "person" shall include the officers, directors and members of any corporation or other legal entity having officers, directors and/or members.
PLASTIC CONTAINERSAny empty plastic food and beverage containers accepted by the collector or contractor. Due to the wide variety of types of plastics, the municipality may stipulate specific types of plastic which may be recycled.
POLLUTIONContamination of any air, water, land or other natural resources of this commonwealth that will create or is likely to create a public nuisance or to render the air, water, land or other natural resources harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish or other life.
PROCESSINGAny technology used for the purpose of reducing the volume or bulk of municipal or residual waste or any technology used to convert part or all of such waste materials for off-site reuse. Processing facilities include, but are not limited to, transfer facilities, composting facilities and resource-recovery facilities. The term does not include a collection or processing center that is only for source-separated recyclable materials, including clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastics.
PUBLIC NUISANCEAny violation of any provision of this Part, rule or regulation of any government agency, order of the Department or any term and condition of any permit shall constitute a public nuisance.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALSMaterials generated by residences and commercial, municipal and institutional establishments which 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 other items selected by the municipality or specified in future revisions to Act 101. The recyclable materials selected by the municipality may be revised from time to time as deemed necessary by the municipality.
RECYCLINGThe 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 mechanical separation and treatment of municipal waste (other than through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials other than as fuel for the operation of energy.
RECYCLING FACILITYA facility employing a technology that is a process that separates or classifies municipal waste and creates or recovers reusable materials that can be sold to or reused by a manufacturer as a substitute or a supplement to virgin raw materials. The term "recycling facility" shall not mean transfer stations or landfills for solid waste nor composting facilities or resource-recovery facilities.
REFUSEAll solid waste materials which are discharged as useless.
RESIDENCESAny occupied single or multifamily dwellings or structures having up to four dwelling units per structure for which the municipality provides municipal waste collection service.
RESIDUAL WASTEAny garbage, refuse, other discharged material or other waste, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials, resulting from industrial, mining or agricultural water supply treatment, a wastewater treatment facility or an air-pollution control facility, provided that it is not hazardous. The term "residual waste" shall not include coal refuse as defined in the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (see 52 P.S. § 30.51 et seq.). Residual waste shall not include treatment sludges from coal mine drainage treatment plants, disposal of which is being carried on pursuant to and in compliance with a valid permit issued pursuant to the Act of June 11, 1937 (P.L. 1987, No. 394), known as the "Clean Streams Law" (see 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.).
RESOURCE-RECOVERY FACILITYA processing facility that provides for the extraction and utilization of materials or energy from municipal waste that is generated off site, including, but not limited to, a facility that mechanically extracts materials from municipal waste, a combustion facility that converts the organic fraction of municipal waste to usable energy, and any chemical and biological process that converts municipal waste into a fuel product. The term also includes any facility for the combustion of municipal waste that is generated off site, whether or not the facility is operated to recover energy. The term does not include: any composting facility; methane gas extraction from a municipal waste landfill; any separation and collection center, dropoff point or collection center for recycling, or any source-separation or collection center for composting leaf waste; and any facility, including all units in the facility, with a total processing capacity of less than 50 tons per day.
SCAVENGINGThe unauthorized and uncontrolled removal of material placed for collection or from a solid waste processing or disposal facility.
SEWAGE TREATMENT RESIDUESAny coarse screenings, grit and dewatered or air-dried sludges from sewage treatment plants and pumpings from septic tanks or septage which are a municipal solid waste and require proper disposal under Act 97, as amended.
SOLID WASTEAny waste, including, but not limited to, municipal, residual or hazardous wastes, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material. The term does not include coal ash or drill cuttings.
STORAGEThe containment of any waste on a temporary basis in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such. It shall be presumed that the containment of any waste in excess of one year constitutes disposal. The presumption can be overcome by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.
TRANSFER STATION/TRANSFER FACILITYA facility which receives and processes or temporarily stores municipal or residual waste at a location other than the generation site, and which facilitates the transportation or transfer of municipal or residual waste to a processing or disposal facility. The term includes a facility that uses a method or technology to convert part or all such waste materials for off-site reuse. The term does not include a collection or processing center that is only for source-separated recyclable materials, including clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper and plastics.
WASTE REDUCTIONDesign, manufacture or use of a product to minimize weight of municipal waste that requires processing or disposal, including, but not limited to:
A. Design or manufacturing activities which minimize the weight or volume of materials contained in a product, or increase durability or recyclability; and
Use of products that contain as little material as possible, are capable of being reused or recycled or have an extended useful life.