Borough of East Stroudsburg, PA Article II Recycling

[Amended 8-13-2019 by Ord. No. 1353, approved 8-13-2019]

§ 134-12 Title.

This article shall be known and referred to as the "Recycling Ordinance."

§ 134-13 Establishment of program; grant of power.

A. The Borough hereby establishes a recycling program effective September 26, 1991, for the mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials from all residences and from all commercial, municipal and institutional establishments located in the Borough for which municipal solid waste collection service is provided by the Borough or any other collector.

B. Borough Council is empowered to set program regulations and make changes to program regulations as necessary. Subsequent changes in the program regulations may be made by resolution of the Borough, as described in § 134-17.

C. Collection of recyclable material(s) shall be made at least twice per month by the Borough or its contracted hauler from residences required to participate in the municipal solid waste collection service. The recycling program shall contain a sustained public information education program.

D. Collection of recyclable material(s) shall be made by a licensed recycling collector authorized to collect recyclable materials from multifamily housing properties, private communities opting out of the municipal solid waste collection service, commercial, industrial and institutional establishments. The recycling program shall contain a sustained public information education program.

§ 134-14 Separation and collection.

A. Recyclable materials.

(1) All persons who are residents of the Borough shall separate all of those recyclable materials designated by the Borough from all other solid waste produced at their homes, apartments and other residential establishments required to participate in the municipal solid waste collection service, store such materials for collection, and shall place the same for collection in accordance with the guidelines established hereunder.

(a) Persons in residences shall source separate all recyclable materials from other solid waste and place them at curbside in recycling containers provided by the Borough for collection on the pickup day(s) designated as instructed by schedules provided by the municipality. Any recycling containers provided to residences for collection of recyclable materials shall be the property of the Borough and shall be used only for the collection of recyclable materials. Any person who moves within or from the Borough shall be responsible for leaving the allocated recycling container(s) within the residence or shall pay the replacement cost of said recycling container(s). Use of recycling containers for any purpose other than the designated recycling program or use of the recycling container(s) by any person other than the person allocated such recycling containers shall be a violation of this article.

(b) An owner, landlord or agent of an owner or landlord of a multifamily housing property must 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.

(2) If recyclable materials are collected by a collector other than the Borough or its authorized hauler, owners, landlords and agents of owners or landlords shall submit an annual report to the Borough reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year.

B. All persons must separate leaf waste and yard waste from other domestic waste generated at their residence and shall provide for collection unless those persons have otherwise provided for composting or other approved methods of processing of leaf waste.

C. Commercial, industrial and institutional establishments shall provide for composting or other approved methods of processing of yard waste and leaf waste.

D. Persons must separate high-grade office paper, aluminum, corrugated paper and such other materials as may be designated by the Borough generated at commercial, industrial and institutional establishments and store the recyclable materials until collection by a licensed recycling collector or delivered to the Twin Borough's recycling center. A person shall submit documentation to the Borough annually indicating that the designated recyclable materials are being recycled in an appropriate manner if a licensed recycling collector is utilized.

E. If recyclable materials are collected by a recycling collector; the recycling collector shall provide the occupants of said establishments with the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year. Occupants shall then submit an annual report to the Borough reporting the tonnage of materials recycled during the previous year.

§ 134-15 Exemptions.

A. Existing recycling operations. Currently existing recycling programs operated by commercial, institutional or industrial establishments shall be exempt from this article. However, those operations will be required to provide the Borough with yearly reports due January 15 of each year. The report shall include the name of the operation, the tonnage and the types of material recycled.

B. New recycling operations seeking an exemption must get Council approval prior to start-up. "New operations" are those not in effect by September 26, 1991.

§ 134-16 Leaf waste.

Leaf waste will be collected and composted by the Borough under its current program, which runs from October through December of each year. During the other times of the year, homeowners may individually compost leaf waste or drop off their leaf waste at the DEP approved Twin Borough's yard waste facility.

§ 134-17 Addition or deletion of recyclable materials.

The Borough Council may change the scope of the recycling program by adding or deleting certain materials from time to time due to marketplace conditions. These changes can be made by resolution of the Council without affecting or amending this article.

§ 134-18 Violations and penalties.

A. In addition to and the remedies available by citation, the Borough reserves all rights to authorize the appropriate officers or agents of East Stroudsburg Borough to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance with this chapter.

B. Any person who shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a summary offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

C. Notice and payment of violation. Upon the discovery of any violation under the terms of this article, the municipality shall, through its authorized agents, give notice to the owner of a violation hereunder, either by personal delivery to such owner, by United States mail directed to the last known address of such person or persons, as shown in Monroe County and Borough records, or by leaving the same on the premises where such violation occurs.

D. If such persons shall, within seven days after the delivery, mailing or leaving of such notice, pay to the Treasurer of the municipality the sum of $15 for the violation, the same will constitute full satisfaction for the violation noted in said notice. If two or more violations are issued for the same property during a calendar year, the second and subsequent violations' payment shall increase an additional $50 per subsequent violation to a maximum of $300. The failure of such person to make payment, as aforesaid, within seven days, shall render such owner subject to the penalties as provided hereinabove.