[Adopted 8-20-1990 by Ord. No. 267 (Ch.
111 of the 1982 Code)]
This article shall be known as the "Muhlenberg Township Municipal Waste
Recycling and Waste Reduction Ordinance."
The following words and phrases, when used in
this article, shall have the meanings given to them in this section,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Empty all-aluminum beverage and food containers.
Empty food or beverage containers consisting of steel and
aluminum.
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial
purposes and those multiple dwelling residential buildings containing
10 or more dwelling units.
Structural paper material with its inner core shaped in rigid
parallel furrows and ridges.
Materials found within the municipal waste stream that have
been designated for collection under the Township's recycling collection
program.
Empty steel or tin-coated steel food or beverage containers.
Bottles and jars made of clear, green or brown glass. Excluded
are plate glass, automotive glass, blue glass and porcelain and ceramic
products, Pyrex®, coffee mugs, drinking glasses or light bulbs.
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, such
as hospitals, schools, day-care centers and nursing homes.
Leaves from trees, bushes and other plants, garden residue,
chipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, but not including clippings.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of mobile homes for nontransient use,
consisting of two or more mobile home lots.
Any properties having 10 or more dwelling units per structure.
Public facilities operated by the municipality and other
governmental and quasi-governmental authorities.
The Township of Muhlenberg, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Any garbage, refuse and industrial, lunchroom or office waste
and other material, including solid, liquid or semisolid, or containing
gaseous material, resulting from the operation of residential, municipal,
commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities.
The term does not include source-separated recyclable materials.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, institution,
municipality, municipal authority, federal or state agency or institution.
In any provision of this article prescribing a fine, imprisonment
or penalty, or any combination of the foregoing, the term "person"
shall include the officers and directors of any corporation or other
legal entity having officers and directors.
Empty PET (soda bottles) plastic bottles and HDPE (laundry
detergent bottles and/or plastic milk containers) plastics.
Any state agency or local public agency.
All temporary gatherings or organized activities on any street,
alley or sidewalk or private property in the Township, where 200 or
more people are expected to attend, involving one or more of the following
factors:
Closing or partial closing of a public right-of-way;
Blocking or restricting access to a public right-of-way, public
or private property;
Use of pyrotechnics or special effects, including open flame,
explosions, or other potentially dangerous displays;
Installation of a stage, band shell, vehicles of any kind, portable
building, toilet, grandstand or bleacher on any public right-of-way
or on any private property where otherwise prohibited by ordinance;
Placement of temporary directional, promotion or other signs
or barricades on a public right-of-way;
Obstruct, delay or interfere with the normal flow of pedestrian
or vehicular traffic and/or does not comply with traffic laws and
controls;
The Township Manager or the Police Department determines that
the activities will result in substantial impact on Township resources,
facilities or services.
Examples of public gatherings or community activities may include
both indoor or outdoor activities occurring on any public right-of-way
or on private property which are designed to attract crowds such as
concerts, parades, athletic activities, fairs, festivals, flea markets;
art and craft shows, carnivals, circuses, block parties, soap box
derbies, rallies, expositions, displays, and athletic activities.
A public gathering is not intended to include the routine operation of a business, such as a restaurant, dance hall, bingo parlor, bar, nightclub or reception hall; provided that convention centers, picnic groves and similar businesses may be deemed to have public gatherings or community activities if operated in a manner that causes any of the conditions set forth in Subsection A(1) through (7) to occur.
The containment of any municipal waste on a temporary basis
in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste. It shall
be presumed that the containment of any municipal waste in excess
of one year constitutes disposal.
Designated recyclable materials for the Township
collection program shall consist of the following materials as defined
herein:
All persons residing within the Township of
Muhlenberg, whether in single-family or multifamily dwellings, townhouses
or apartments, shall separate from other municipal waste generated
at their dwellings all designated recyclable materials. These materials
shall be stored until collection thereof by the Township or its designated
agent, at times and dates as set forth by the Township in subsequently
promulgated regulations. The Township, from time to time hereafter
by resolution, may designate other items to be recycled. Nothing in
this article or subsequently promulgated regulations relating hereto
shall be deemed to impair the ownership of separated materials by
the person or persons who generated them unless and until such materials
are placed at the curbside or other designated location for collection
by the municipality or its agents.
All persons residing within the Township of
Muhlenberg, as aforesaid, shall also separate from other municipal
waste generated at their dwellings all leaf waste so generated in
those areas of the Township and during those periods of time that
the Township, by resolution and notice, indicates that such leaf waste
is to be collected, until the times for collection, unless those persons
have otherwise provided for the composting of such leaf waste.
The owner and/or landlord or the agent of such
owner and/or landlord of multifamily rental housing properties with
10 or more dwelling units and mobile home parks shall comply with
the requirements of this article by establishing a collection system
for designated recyclable materials at each such property. The collection
system must include suitable containers for the collecting and sorting
of said recyclable materials, easily accessible locations for the
containers and written instructions to the occupants concerning the
use of said collection system. Owners and/or landlords and the agents
for such owners and/or landlords shall not be liable for the noncompliance
of occupants of their buildings.
The owner and/or landlord or the agent of such
owner and/or landlord of multifamily rental housing properties with
10 or more dwelling units and mobile home parks not included in the
collection system of the municipality shall establish a system for
the collection of designated recyclable materials and leaf waste and
arrange for the removal of such materials to a center for recyclable
materials. Leaf waste shall be collected and transported to a composting
facility or leaf mulching operation. Annual reports, in writing, of
the number of tons of such material recycled shall be made to the
Township by the 15th day of January of the following year.
All persons owning, leasing, operating, managing
and/or otherwise controlling commercial, municipal or institutional
establishments or community activities shall separate high-grade office
paper, aluminum, corrugated paper and leaf waste, collect the same
and arrange for the removal of such materials to a center for recyclable
materials. Annual reports, in writing, of the number of tons of such
material recycled shall be made to the Township by the 15th day of
January of the following year.
[Added 4-20-2020 by Ord.
No. 591]
All persons operating, managing and/or otherwise controlling
a public gathering or community activity shall separate glass, aluminum
cans, bimetallic cans, steel cans, corrugated paper and all other
recyclable materials as designated by the Township, effective 30 days
after such designation, collect the same and arrange for the removal
of such materials to an appropriate center for recyclable materials.
Each person operating, managing and/or otherwise controlling a public
gathering or community activity shall report to the Township the number
of pounds of such materials recycled at the public gathering or community
activity within 15 days of the conclusion of such public gathering
or community activity.
The Township, by resolution of the Board of
Commissioners from time to time, will schedule a day, not less frequently
than once a month, when designated recyclable materials are to be
placed at the curbside or other designated location for collection.
In single-family areas of the Township, one container will be provided
for the collection of all designated recyclable materials. Designated
materials must be set out for collection in accordance with rules
and regulations adopted by the Township.
The Township will establish a system for the
collection, not less frequently than once a month, of designated recyclable
materials. Such system may involve the collection, transporting, processing
or marketing of the materials by the municipality itself or through
contracting with other persons for the collecting, transporting, processing
or marketing of said commingled recyclable materials.
Persons owning, leasing, operating or managing
commercial, institutional or municipal establishments within the boundaries
of the Township who have provided for or who hereafter provide for
the recycling of materials required to be recycled by the terms of
this article or by the terms of the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling
and Waste Reduction Act of the commonwealth[1] are hereby exempt from the terms of this article. To be
eligible for the foregoing exemption, a commercial, institutional
or municipal establishment generating municipal waste must annually
provide written documentation to the Township of the total number
of tons recycled by the 15th day of January of each year.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101
et seq.
Designated recyclable materials, from the time
of the placement of the same at the curbside or other designated collection
area in accordance with the terms hereof or of subsequently adopted
regulations, shall be and become the property of the Township or its
authorized designated agent or agents. Prior thereto, said designated
recyclable materials shall remain the property of the persons generating
the same. It shall be a violation of this article for any person not
so authorized by the Township to act as its agent or agents for the
collection of the designated recyclable materials.
It shall be unlawful for:
A.Â
Any person, other
than those persons authorized, to collect any designated recyclable
which has been placed at the curbside or similar location for collection.
B.Â
Any person to
violate or to cause or to assist in the violation of any provision
of this article.
C.Â
Any person to
place or cause to be placed any material other than a designated recyclable
in recycling containers.
D.Â
Any person to
hinder, to obstruct, to prevent or to interfere with the Township
or any other authorized persons in the performance of any duty under
this article.
Any person who shall violate any of the terms
of this article, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution or, in default
thereof, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days. The minimum
sentence, upon conviction, for the first offense within a one-year
period shall be $35 and costs of prosecution; for a second offense
within such period, $70 and costs; and for a third offense within
such period, $100 and costs. Each day that a violation of the terms
of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense and
may be prosecuted as such.
