[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of
the Town of Smithfield as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-19-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-06.[1]
As used in this article, the following term(s) shall have the
meaning(s) indicated:
The process by which the Town plans for and carries out the
separation, weighing, collection, hauling and disposal of solid waste
and recyclables within the Town.
An item of solid waste that is not recyclable and is too
large to fit in a bag placed inside the universal cart or heavier
than 50 pounds.
Any commercial establishment doing business within the Town
of Smithfield.
Receptacles provided to residents by the Town for the purpose
of collecting solid waste and recycling. The lid of the recycling
cart is yellow and is labeled "Recycling only" and the lid of the
trash cart is green and is labeled "Trash only."
Any material resulting from the remodeling or demolition
of a house or structure, i.e., windows, doors, house and bathroom
fixtures, siding, etc.
The Department of Environmental Management of the State of
Rhode Island.
Any waste as defined in the G.L. 1956, § 23-19.1-4,
and in regulations adopted pursuant thereto and as they may be amended.
Some examples of hazardous materials are any materials with packaging
containing a hazardous or toxic symbol, chemicals, solvents, propane,
gasoline, oil, etc.
Hazardous solid, liquid or gaseous waste generated by residents
of the Town of Smithfield. Some examples of hazardous materials are
any materials with packaging containing a hazardous or toxic symbol,
chemicals, solvents, propane, gasoline, oil, etc.
A recycling program for municipal solid waste, as set forth
in a local recycling plan, approved by the state, pursuant to the
municipal recycling regulations as amended.
Recyclable materials, as specified by Rhode Island Resource
Recovery Corporation and Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management, in accordance with regulations, which are required to
be removed from municipal solid waste at the source and placed in
the universal roll-out cart provided by the town for transport to
Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation for recycling. The materials
to be included may change from time to time depending upon new technologies,
economic conditions, waste stream characteristics, environmental effects
or mutual agreement between state and municipalities.
Solid waste generated by the residents of the Town in the
course of their daily living, the disposal of which the governing
body of the Town has undertaken in the discharge of its duties to
protect the health of the Town. The term "municipal solid waste" does
not include solid waste generated by residents of the Town in the
course of their employment or that are generated by any manufacturing
or commercial enterprise.
Materials separated from municipal solid waste stream, prior
to disposal, for reuse in the form of raw materials for new, used
or reconstituted products, which meet the quality standard necessary
to be used in the marketplace and that are not landfilled.
Anyone residing in the Town for any period of time who generates
solid waste for which the Town accepts responsibility for disposal.
Garbage, refuse or other discarded solid materials generated
by residential, institutional, commercial, industrial and agricultural
sources but not including solids or dissolved material in domestic
sewage or sewage sludge, nor hazardous waste as defined in the Hazardous
Waste Management Act, Chapter 19.1 of the General Laws of Rhode Island.[1]
A facility operated by or for the Town; the purpose of which
is the temporary storage and accumulation of municipal solid waste
prior to its transport to and disposal at the Rhode Island Resource
Recovery Corporation's landfill or another facility designated
by RIRRC.
Major kitchen or laundry appliances, including but not limited
to stoves, washers, refrigerators, dryers and water heaters. Nothing
in this definition shall waive compliance with the rules and regulations
for generation, transportation, storage and disposal of hazardous
waste.
Leaves, grass clippings, weeds, herbaceous garden waste,
brush, shrub and tree pruning and branches no more than three feet
in length and two inches in diameter.
[1]
Editor's Note: See R.I.G.L. § 23-19.1-1 et
seq.
There is hereby established a program for the mandatory separation
of certain recyclable materials from municipal solid waste by the
residents of the Town and the collection of segregated municipal solid
waste at the resident's curbside or at other specific locations.
The collection of separate recyclables shall be made periodically
under the supervision of the Director of Public Works and Recycling
Coordinator.
A.
The Director of Public Works shall oversee the implementation of
this article.
B.
The Director of Public Works shall receive the assistance of the
Department of Public Works, the Recycling Coordinator, Smithfield
School Department and other municipal departments. One of the prime
duties of the Director of Public Works shall be to encourage public
education about recycling through the media, through the schools,
through periodic public awareness campaigns and events.
C.
The Director of Public Works is hereby authorized and directed to
prepare and publish, subject to Council approval, regulations for
the implementations of this article and what recycling and collection
facilities will be made available to residents of the Town.
The Director of Public Works shall establish an accurate system
to keep monthly records of weights of total municipal solid waste
and of recyclables, which are separated from the total municipal solid
waste stream.
The Director of Public Works shall give notice to RIRRC of any
significant change in solid waste disposal arrangements.
The Town Council shall appoint an individual, either part-time
or full-time, municipally or regionally, to coordinate the refuse
and recycling program with the Department of Public Works, private
trash haulers and recycling facilities and RIRRC and to provide recycling
education for residents and school children. These tasks shall be
accomplished in a manner consistent with state and federal regulations.
The Recycling Coordinator shall implement a public education
and information program, consisting of speaking engagements, school
presentations, preparation of press releases, direct mailings, special
events and other such efforts to inform the public of the benefits
of recycling and the mechanics of its implementation in their community,
in accordance with Sections 5-4a and 8.3f-8 of RI Municipal Recycling
Regulations, as amended.
A.
Recyclable materials: Recyclable materials shall be deposited at
the curb in the universal roll-out carts provided by the Town to the
residents. These carts shall initially be provided free of charge
for the implementation of fully automated trash and recycling collection.
Universal roll-out carts will be provided free to residents occupying
a newly built home. If there are more recyclables than can be accommodated
in the universal roll-out cart, residents can exchange their sixty-five-gallon
cart for a larger Town-owned cart of approximately 95 gallons for
no charge. Recyclable materials shall be prepared for collection,
according to regulations, established by the Director of Public Works
and published by the Town.
B.
Licensed public events and festivals: The Town shall require the
separation of recyclables as a condition of licensing or authorizing
public events at which significant solid waste will be generated for
which the Town accepts responsibility for disposal.
C.
Public property: The Town shall require the separation of recyclables
in any public building, park, beach or playground where significant
solid waste may be generated for which the Town accepts responsibility
for disposal.
D.
Commercial recycling: The Town shall require the separation of recyclables
at all business firms within the Town. Business firms shall be required
to dispose of these materials in accordance with state and federal
regulations, at no cost to the Town. Business firms, which provide
waste receptacles for public use, shall be required to provide separate
recycling receptacles for each recyclable material stream for public
use.
E.
Compliance required: All residents, taxpayers and business firms
in the Town of Smithfield shall separate recyclables from the no-recyclable
portion of their solid waste and prepare them for recycling according
to directions established by the Director of Public Works and published
by the Town.
F.
Collection by private parties and nonprofit groups: Residents are
allowed to give recyclables, prior to placing them at the curbside,
to individuals and to private and nonprofit organizations that have
been fully licensed and whose collections are reported in a manner
specified by the Director of Public Works.
G.
Condominium collection: The Town will accept trash and recycling
from condominium residents. The condominium developer and/or Board
President will be required to meet with the Department of Public Works
Director or his or her representative prior to collection. A letter
holding the Town and hauling company harmless in the event of damage
to the roadways will be required prior to collection.
The Town shall provide a schedule for the collection of mixed
recyclables from residents. Such materials shall be placed at the
curbside, mixed together in the universal roll-out cart colored green
with a yellow lid. Items shall be clean and dry. Containers shall
be empty and rinsed. Recyclables shall be loose within the cart, not
contained in plastic bags.
All carts shall be placed on the outer edge of the sidewalk,
not later than 6:00 a.m., on your collection day or the night before
your collection day. The trucks will not collect over the same route
twice on the same day. The Town cannot authorize the placing of carts
on the sidewalk, except for the purpose of collecting same. All damages
caused, occasioned or resulting from their presence must rest on the
person who placed them there. The Department of Public Works will
be responsible for repairs or replacements of carts damaged by Town
plows or Town vehicles. All carts must be removed from the highways
within 24 hours of collection. If a cart is stolen, the resident must
go to the Smithfield Police Department and file a report. A copy of
the report must be submitted to the Department of Public Works with
a written request for a new cart. Residents are allowed one Town-owned
replacement cart, per dwelling, at no charge, in the event a cart
is stolen. All trash must be bagged before being placed in the cart.
The lid to the cart must closed tightly and no material may be sticking
out of the cart. Place carts no more than three feet from the street
and at least four feet from obstacles such as mailboxes, fire hydrants
and telephone poles. Cart handles and wheels should be facing the
house and the arrows on the lid should face the street. The "No Bin
No Barrel" Policy is still in effect. Your recycling cart must be
out in order to receive trash collection.
The Director of Public Works shall have prominently published
the initial schedule for collection and shall publish a new schedule,
thereafter, whenever there is a change in either materials to be collected,
regulations, collection procedures, schedules or a change in the waste
hauling contractor.
A.
Refuse and rubbish in the Town-owned carts, placed at the sidewalk,
as stated in this article, will be removed by the hauler. All trash
must be bagged before being placed in the cart. The cart lid must
close tightly and no material may be sticking out of the cart.
B.
Properly sorted mixed recycling in Town-owned recycling carts, placed
at the sidewalk, as stated in this article, will be collected by the
hauler. Recycling must be loose, not bagged. The cart lid must close
tightly and no material may be sticking out of the cart.
Under no circumstance will loose trash be collected. All trash
must be bagged before being placed in the cart. The lid must close
tightly.
Residents are required to call the Department of Public Works
to schedule a pick-up or go to our on-line form. White goods and bulk
items shall be placed curbside, no earlier than 24 hours before the
scheduled pick-up day.
Yard waste will be collected, according to the Trash and Recycling
Calendar, distributed by the Director of Public Works. Yard waste
must be placed in brown paper "yard debris" bags, barrels without
wheels that have been labeled "yard waste" or in tied bundles of branches
no more than three feet in length and two inches in diameter. There
is a maximum of 12 items collected per household, including trash
and recycling carts.
The Town will not collect construction waste. Construction waste
must be stored in containers deemed appropriate and reasonably determined
by the Building Official. Construction waste must be removed within
48 hours of the substantial completion of work on the subject property.
No person having custody or control of residential, industrial
or business premises from which solid waste, including recyclables,
is collected for disposal shall permit or cause any solid waste, including
recyclables, within his or her control to become a hazard to public
travel, health or safety or to become a nuisance of any sort. Solid
waste, including recyclables, white goods, and bulk items, left at
the curbside for a period of more than 24 hours shall be considered
a nuisance and said person having control may be subject to fines
or penalties.
Once municipal solid waste, including recyclables, has been
placed at the curbside, such solid waste becomes the property of the
Town. No person engaged in the business of separation, recovery, collection,
removal, storage or disposition of solid waste shall pick up or procure
any recyclable materials, as defined under this article or a valid
regulation, within the Town, except as specifically authorized by
the Director of Public Works. This restriction shall also include
any resident, taxpayer or other person who might engage in such practice
for personal gain.
No solid waste will be removed from commercial establishments
by the hauler collecting municipal solid waste for the Town.
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police of the Town to enforce
the provisions of this article.
Penalties for residential noncompliance or violations of the
provisions of this article shall be as follows:
A.
First offense: A verbal notification delivered and recorded by the
Director of Public Works, or his designee, to the resident.
B.
Second offense: A written warning, delivered and recorded, that subsequent
violations shall result in the fines from the Department of Public
Works.
C.
Third and subsequent offense: Any person who violates any of the
provisions of this article, after receiving a written warning of the
same offense, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $100 for
each subsequent offense.
Penalties for business firm noncompliance or violations of the
provisions of this article shall be as follows:
A.
First offense: a written notification delivered and recorded by the
Director of Public Works, or his designee, to the business firm.
B.
Second offense: a written warning, delivered and recorded by the
Director of Public Works, or his designee, stating that subsequent
violations shall result in the payment of fines.
C.
Third offense: any business firm that violates any of the provisions
of this article after receiving a written warning of the same offense
shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500.
D.
Subsequent offenses: Any business firm may be subject to suspension
or revocation of its license to do business by the Town Council for
repeated violation of any provision of this article.
The Director of Public Works may issue permits to private parties
or charitable organizations to collect recyclable materials, on the
condition that a report is filed by such party or organization, detailing
the amount of each material collected and provided that the Director
of Public Works determines that such collection does not defeat the
purpose or cost effectiveness of the Town's recycling program
nor conflict with the Town's local implementation program.
A.
All qualified persons engaged in the business of collection and hauling
of solid waste and operation of transfer stations within Town boundaries
shall be licensed in compliance with the State's Rules and Regulations
for Solid Waste Disposal Facilities and the provisions of this article.
B.
Licensees shall:
(1)
Maintain the segregation of municipal solid waste, which they haul,
collect or transport;
(2)
Maintain any separated recyclables which are brought to state-owned
recycling facilities, to be delivered in processable condition; and
(3)
Deliver to state-owned recycling facilities all separated recyclables
which are designated by the Town to go to such facility.
The Director of Public Works is empowered to supervise, facilitate
and contract with either state recycling facilities as mandated by
the General Laws of the State of Rhode Island or with commercial firms
for the receipt and processing of recyclable material, in a manner
consistent with the Town's local implementation program, that
yields the best rate of recycling and the most cost-effective results
for the Town.
This article and various parts, sections and clauses thereto
are hereby declared to be severable. If any part, sentence, section
or clause is adjudged invalid, it is hereby provided that the remainder
of this article shall not be affected thereby.
