The short title of this chapter shall be the "Bern Township
Municipal Solid Waste Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that
manner.
The following words and phrases throughout this chapter shall
have the following meanings:
ACT
The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Production
Act of 1988, 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
ALUMINUM CANS
All disposable containers made and fabricated primarily of
aluminum and most commonly used to contain soda, beer and other beverages.
ASHES
The residue generated from the burning of wood or coal in
dwellings, hotels, stores and churches.
BIMETALLIC CANS
Food and beverage containers which will adhere to magnets
(containers made of iron, steel or a metal alloy).
COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
An establishment engaged in nonmanufacturing or nonprocessing
business, including, but not limited to, stores, markets, office buildings,
restaurants, shopping centers and theaters.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Events that are sponsored by public or private agencies or
individuals that include, but are not limited to, fans, bazaars, socials,
picnics, shows and organized sporting events attended by 200 or more
individuals per day.
CORRUGATED PAPER
A structural paper material with an inner core shaped in
rigid parallel furrows and ridges.
GARBAGE
Spoiled or waste food that is thrown away, generally defined
as "wet food waste."
GLASS CONTAINERS
All products made from silica or sand, soda ash and limestone,
the product being transparent or translucent and being used for packaging
or bottling of various matter or liquid, and all other material commonly
known as "glass," specifically including green glass, brown glass
and clear glass and specifically excluding blue glass, black glass,
plate glass, light bulbs, noncontainer glass, porcelain and ceramic.
HIGH-GRADE OFFICE PAPER
All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial,
institutional and municipal establishments, whether in whole or shredded
form.
INSTITUTIONAL ESTABLISHMENT
An establishment engaged in service, including but not limited
to hospitals, schools, nursing homes, day-care centers and prisons.
LEAD ACID BATIERIES
Include, but are not limited to, automotive, truck and industrial
batteries that contain lead.
LEAF WASTE
Leaves, garden residues, shrubbery and tree trimmings, and
similar material, but not including grass clippings.
MUNICIPAL ESTABLISHMENT
Public facilities operated by the Township and other governmental
and quasi-governmental authorities.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
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 from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply
treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control
facility. The term does not include some-separated recyclable materials.
NEWSPAPERS
Paper of the type 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.
PERMITTED COLLECTOR
The entity or entities licensed pursuant to Pennsylvania
Act 90 and/or permitted by the Township to collect municipal
solid waste and/or recyclable materials from residences within the
Garbage Collection District and Recycling Collection District, or
authorized by residents, commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
that do not receive collection services from the Township to collect
municipal solid waste and/or recyclable materials from those properties.
PERSONS
Owners, lessees and occupants of residences and commercial,
municipal and institutional establishments.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
Those materials specified by Bern Township for separation,
collection, processing, recovery or reuse as part of a recycling program.
RECYCLING
The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of
metals, glass, paper, leaf waste 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.
RECYCLING DISTRICT
The area of the Township serviced by curbside collection
of recyclable materials by Bern Township for residents paying a fee
in connection therewith.
RESIDENCES
Any occupied single-family dwelling for which the Township
provides municipal waste collection service.
SOURCE-SEPARATED RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
Materials that are separated from municipal waste at the
point of origin for the purpose of recycling. The term is limited
to clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans,
high-grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated paper, plastics and
other marketable grades of paper.
SUSTAINED EDUCATION PROGRAM
The ongoing effort of Bern Township to inform the general
public concerning the requirements of this chapter.
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.
No person shall dispose of municipal solid waste in the Township,
except in accordance with this chapter. It shall be the responsibility
of the property owner to make sure that the disposing of all municipal
solid waste from his/her or its property is done so in accordance
with the regulations in this chapter.
Any person owning or occupying any building, lot or premises
shall not allow any municipal solid waste or abandoned vehicles to
collect or remain upon said property; provided, however, that this
prohibition shall not be construed as interfering with construction
under a valid permit during the course of construction and within
a reasonable time thereafter or the piling of wood neatly for fireplace
or kitchen use. No municipal solid waste or abandoned vehicles shall
be permitted to accumulate on the ground nor be deposited on highways,
streets, alleys, sidewalks, vacant lots or public grounds nor be thrown
into a stream or other body of water.
It shall be unlawful for any person not authorized to do so
to remove the lid from any municipal solid waste or recycling container
or to collect, molest or scatter such materials set out for collection.
The use of private collectors will not relieve any person from
compliance with this chapter.
The Township hereby establishes a recycling program for the
mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials by persons
and the separation, collection and composting of leaf waste from all
residences and all commercial, municipal and institutional establishments
located in the Township or any other collector. Collection of the
recyclable materials shall be made at least once per month by the
Township, its designated agent or any other private permitted collectors
operating in the Township and authorized to collect recyclable materials
from residences and from commercial, municipal and institutional establishments.
The recycling program shall also contain a sustained public information
and education program.
All recyclable materials placed by persons for collection by
the Township or authorized collector pursuant to this chapter shall,
from time of placement at the curb, become the property of the Township.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to impair the ownership
of separated recyclable materials by persons unless and until such
materials are placed at the curbside for collection.
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.
Disposal by persons of recyclable materials with municipal solid
waste is prohibited and shall be a violation of this chapter. 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 a prior exemption is obtained, in writing, from
the Township prior to the incineration or landfilling thereof.
The Township or, at the direction of the Township, the designated
contractor collecting municipal solid waste generated within the Township
may refuse to collect municipal solid waste from any person who has
clearly failed to source separate recyclable materials designated
under an applicable section of this chapter.