[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Unity as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 11-11-1990 by Ord. No. O-4-90]
The short title of this article shall be the "Township of Unity
Recycling Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that manner.
The following words and phrases, as used throughout this article,
shall have the following meanings:
The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction
Act of 1988.[1]
Empty all-aluminum beverage or food cans.
Empty food or beverage containers consisting of steel and
aluminum.
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 municipality 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 four dwelling units.
Events that are sponsored by public or private agencies or
individuals, that include but are not limited to fairs, bazaars, socials,
picnics and organized sporting events attended by 200 or more individuals
per day.
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 and universities.
Includes, but is not limited to, automotive, truck and industrial
batteries that contain lead.
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 the 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[2] 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 Unity.
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 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. The "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 or processed as municipal waste, or the
mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste, other than
through combustion, and the creation and recovery of reusable materials.
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
Resources for beneficial use.
[Amended 6-24-2008 by Ord. No. O-12-2008]
In accordance with and pursuant to the provisions of the Second
Class Township Code[1] and Act 101, Unity Township hereby establishes a recycling program for the mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials and the separation, collection and composting of leaf wastes from all residential, commercial, municipal and institutional establishments located within the Township of Unity for which waste collection is provided by the municipality or by any other collector. Rules and regulations for this recycling program, including the identification of items to be recycled, the imposition of fees thereof, and the submission of reports regarding recycling collections are set forth in Article II of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 65101 et seq.
Disposal by persons of lead acid batteries with other municipal
wastes is prohibited and shall be a violation of this article.
A.
All
persons who are residents of the municipality shall separate all of
those recyclable materials designated by the municipality from all
other municipal waste produced at their homes, apartments and other
residential establishments, store such materials for collection, and
shall place the 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 municipality for collection on a day
each month designated by the municipality or its designated agent.
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 municipality 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.
(2)
An owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord
of a multifamily rental housing property with more than four 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 the composting
of leaf waste.
C.
Persons
must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated paper,
leaf waste and such other materials as may be designated by the municipality
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 municipality annually indicating
that the designated recyclable materials are being recycled in an
appropriate manner.
D.
If recyclable materials are collected by a collector as provided in Subsection C other than the municipality or its authorized agent, occupants of said establishments shall submit an annual report to the municipality reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year and the name of the collector, who must first be approved by the Township Supervisors.
All recyclable materials placed by persons for collection by the municipality or authorized collector pursuant to this article shall, from the time of placement at the curb, become the property of the municipality or the authorized collector, except as otherwise provided by § 93-8 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.
A.
The
Township of Unity shall implement the provisions of this article by
collecting, transporting, processing or marketing source-separated
materials or may contract, subject to competitive bidding, with any
person to carry out its duties for the recycling, transportation and
collection of source-separated materials.
B.
Any
contracting collector shall be jointly and severally responsible with
the Township of Unity when carrying out its duties for the transportation,
collection or storage of source-separated materials.
C.
It
shall be a violation of this article for any person, firm or corporation,
other than the municipality or one authorized by the Unity Township
Supervisors or other entity responsible for providing for the collection
of recyclable materials placed by residences or commercial, municipal
and institutional establishments for collection by the municipality
or an authorized collector, to collect or cause to be collected said
materials unless such person, firm or corporation has been authorized
by the Township of Unity 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 collection point of a residence or commercial, municipal
or institutional establishment without prior written permission from
the Unity Township Supervisors or other entity responsible for authorizing
the 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 burning in incinerators is prohibited unless
markets do not exist and the collectors or operators have notified
the Unity Township Supervisors in writing.
A.
The Unity Township Supervisors or its designated agent
are 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 and second offenses. Thereafter all
such violations shall be subject to the penalties hereinafter provided.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, any person, firm or
corporation who or which shall violate any of the provisions of this
article shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution for each
and every offense. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate
offense and be chargeable under this article.
D.
In addition, the Township of Unity may enforce all
charges lawfully imposed under this article for the collection, transportation
and disposal of separated recyclable materials, as well as for damage
to Township containers and equipment supplied to owners, by filing
a municipal claim as provided by law. This provision is in addition
to the payment of fines and penalties for violation of this article.
The municipality 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 curbsides.
The municipality may, from time to time, modify, add to or remove from the standards and regulations herein and as authorized in § 93-10.
[Adopted 6-24-2008 by Ord. No. O-12-2008[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Art.
II, Rules and Regulations, adopted 11-5-1990 by Res. No. R-15-90,
as amended.
Collectors engaged in the hauling of garbage and refuse from
residential households in the Township of Unity shall offer as an
additional service to the residents of Unity Township the collection
of recyclable materials as set forth herein on at least a monthly
collection basis.
Collectors engaged in the hauling of recyclable materials as
set forth herein shall include the reasonable costs for the collection
of recyclable materials as part of the regular monthly charge assessed
to residential households in Unity Township.
A.
All collectors hauling recyclable garbage, refuse and/or recyclable materials from residential households in Unity Township shall, at minimum, accept the following recyclable materials as defined in § 93-2 hereof: aluminum, bimetal containers, clear and colored glass containers, and plastic containers identified as PET No. 1 and HDPE No. 2.
B.
Nothing herein shall prohibit any individual hauler
from accepting additional recyclable materials upon due notice to
the Unity Township Board of Supervisors and to the residential customers
serviced by said collector.
Unity Township shall provide, at locations to be determined
from time to time by the Board of Supervisors, facilities and equipment
for the recycling of newspapers, magazines, catalogs and telephone
books.
A.
Each household must recycle those recyclable materials
set forth herein. All containers must be cleaned and rinsed prior
to placement in the designated recycling container.
B.
Each household is responsible for placing the recycling
container at the end of the driveway or at such designated place on
the day which has been specified for the collection of recyclable
materials.
C.
Any material placed in the recycling container other than the type specified shall be cause for rejection and shall not be collected. Furthermore, that household shall be considered to be in noncompliance and subject to the penalties set forth in Article I of this chapter.
D.
Each household is responsible by law to participate
in this mandatory recycling program.
Any collector of residential municipal waste within the Township
of Unity shall submit to the municipality a report, annually or on
such other time frame as the municipality may determine, identifying
the nature and quantity of materials recycled within the municipality.
