[Adopted 6-25-1990 as Ord. No. 2358]
The short title of this Article shall be the "Borough of Wilkinsburg Recycling Ordinance," and the same may be cited in that manner.
The following words and phrases used throughout this Article shall have the following meanings:
The Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988.
[1]All empty 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 material from those properties.
Those properties used primarily for commercial or industrial purposes.
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 two hundred (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 or 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.
Includes aluminum, bimetal containers and ferrous containers.
Public facilities operated by the borough and other governmental and quasi-governmental authorities.
The Borough of Wilkinsburg.
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[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.
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 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 and any other items selected by the municipality or specified in future revisions to Act 101. The recyclable materials selected by the borough may be revised from time to time as deemed necessary by the borough.
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 creation and recovery of reusable materials.
Any occupied single- or multifamily dwellings for which the borough provides municipal waste collection service.
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.
A.
The borough hereby establishes a recycling program from the mandatory separation and collection of recyclable materials and the separation, collection and composting of leaf waste from all residences and all commercial, municipal and institutional establishments located in the borough for which waste collection is provided by the borough or any other collector. Collection of the recyclable materials shall be made at least once per month by the borough, its designated agent or any other solid waste collectors operating in the borough and authorized to collect recyclable materials from residences or from commercial, municipal and institutional establishments. The recycling program shall also contain a sustained public information and education program.
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 borough shall separate all of those recyclable materials, designated by borough regulations, 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 designated recyclable materials from other refuse. Recyclable materials shall be placed at the curbside in containers provided by the borough for collection.
(2)
Any 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 resident who moves within or from the borough shall be responsible for returning the allocated container(s) to the borough or shall pay the replacement cost of said container(s). Whenever any person or entity is selling real estate within the Borough of Wilkinsburg and requests that the borough issue a letter of certification concerning municipal liens, the borough shall not issue such lien certification until said person or entity shall return the allocated container(s) to the borough or shall pay the replacement cost of said container(s).
(3)
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.
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 composting of leaf waste.
C.
Persons must separate from solid waste all high-grade office paper, aluminum, metal cans, glass containers, corrugated paper, leaf waste and such other materials as may be designated by the borough generated at commercial, municipal and institutional establishments and from community activities. All commercial, municipal and institutional establishments and community activities shall be responsible for the proper storage, collection and transportation of said recyclable materials, at no expense to the borough, in accordance with the borough's regulations. Said recyclable materials shall be collected at least once a month for transportation to a suitable processing plant or final recycling destination in accordance with Act 101. All said commercial, municipal and institutional establishments and community activities shall file a report with the borough annually, on or before January 1 of each year, to verify that the designated recyclable materials are being recycled in an appropriate manner.
[Amended 11-30-1994 by Ord. No. 2472]
All recyclable materials placed by persons for collection by the borough or authorized collector pursuant to this article shall, from time of placement at the curb, become the property of the borough or the authorized collector, except as otherwise provided by § 222-8 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.
It shall be a violation of this article for any person, firm or corporation, other than the borough or one authorized by the Borough Council or other entity responsible for collection of recyclable materials, to collect recyclable materials placed by residences for collection by the borough or an authorized collector, unless such person, firm or corporation has prior written permission from the generator to make such collection. In violation hereof, unauthorized collection from one (1) or more residences or commercial, municipal and institutional establishments on one (1) 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 Borough Council or other entity responsible for authorizing 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 to be burned in incinerators is prohibited unless markets do not exist and the collectors or operators have notified the borough in writing.
A.
The borough is 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 or recyclable containers.
(5)
Establishing procedures and rules for 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 offense. Thereafter all such violations shall be subject to the penalties hereafter provided.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.) and costs of prosecution for each and every offense.
[Amended 11-30-1994 by Ord. No. 2472]
D.
The borough reserves the right not to collect municipal waste containing recyclable materials in combination with nonrecyclable materials.
The borough 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 curbside.
The Borough may, from time to time, modify, add to or remove from the standards and regulations herein and as authorized in § 222-10.
