ENVIRONMENTAL

GREEN THUMB

Convenient, Affordable Trash Disposal and Recycling

By Shannon Reiter, President, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful

Pennsylvania, under Act 101,i has spent decades building a recycling infrastructure, yet many residents still do not have access to trash disposal.

While it may not be practical to have curbside trash pickup and/ or recycling in every community, research from Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful (KPB) has revealed:

It is time to take a comprehensive approach to addressing the state’s waste and recycling needs and establish a network of convenience centers to ensure universal access to waste and recycling services.

• There is less illegal dumping in areas where there is universal access to waste and recycling collection. • Approximately 85 percent of PA’s residents claim to have curbside waste collection, but what can be accepted and how often varies greatly from municipality to municipality and region to region. • Cost per home is lower where there is a community-wide waste and recycling collection program, commonly known as a municipal contract, than where residents personally contract these services. • If it were made available, more than 87 percent of Pennsylvanians would be willing to take their household waste, recyclables, or other items not collected at the curb, to a convenient outlet and pay for the service. The primary objective of Act 101 was to prevent improper

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municipal waste practices that create public health hazards, environmental pollution, and economic loss, while causing irreparable harm to public health, safety, and welfare. Pennsylvania has made great strides in municipal waste management over the last four decades. The eradication of more than 1,000 open municipal dumps, followed by the permitting and construction of safer, state-of-the-art disposal facilities has prevented pollution and created a cleaner and healthier environment that is a foundation for stronger communities. Act 101 is a good example of legislation that includes preemptive measures to encourage proper waste management and stop illegal dumping before it occurs by mandating the implementation of curbside recycling programs in communities that meet defined population or population density thresholds – mandated communities. Act 101 was amended in 2006 (Act 140) to require mandated communities to provide curbside collection for municipal waste as well.

Communities that are mandated by Act 101 receive more than $10,000 in recycling performance grants, and must comply with these same requirements to sustain their eligibility for grants. Despite these advancements, illegal dumping continues to plague the Commonwealth and has a costly impact. Between 2005 and 2013, more than 6,200 illegal dumpsites were identified. Investigating this crime is time consuming and labor intensive for both state and local governments. Remediation is about $619 per ton, averaging $2,947 per site.ii However, it is not unusual for costs to be significantly higher.

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Illegal dumping occurs most frequently where the risk of detection and penalties are low, and where there is a lack of acceptable disposal or recycling outlets.

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Items frequently found in these sites include construction and demolition waste, tires, and bulky items such as furniture, appliances, and mattresses. In PA, because waste and recycling are determined and managed largely at the municipal level, each municipal program has unique variations of services and bidding requirements or none. This means waste management is more complex, costlier, and, overall, less efficient. This system sets up unclear expectations for residents and makes public education about waste and recycling services more expensive and more difficult. All these factors combined lead to high contamination rates, poor participation, and illegal dumping. Additionally, it is widely known that illegal dumping at drop-off recycling bins is an increasing problem.

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LOCAL ADOPTIONS

Adopt roads, trails, parks, and waterways through the KPB Adoption Program and schools via the Litter Free School Zone program. Click Keep It! at keeppabeautiful.org

ILLEGAL DUMP FREE PA

Prevent, stop, and fight illegal dumping with these tools and resources, including the surveillance camera loan program. Click Keep It! at keeppabeautiful.org

E-WASTE PA

Tools and resources to navigate electronics recycling in Pennsylvania. Click Prevent It! at keeppabeautiful.org

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When individuals place household waste in receptacles paid for by businesses and individuals, as well as at the drop-off recycling sites of local governments, they are technically stealing service

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GREEN THUMB

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that can lead to customers’ prices increasing to handle this extra volume of waste. To cover the fixed cost of services, honest citizens end up paying more per home to subsidize the loss of revenue. However, KPB suggests taking a step back and reimagining these recycling drop-offs as full-service and staffed waste and recycling convenience centers. Residents are already taking their waste and recycling to these locations. The high rate of dumping at these sites makes a strong case for building a system of convenience centers where residents can take their waste and recycling for proper management, under supervision. These convenience centers would be particularly beneficial to communities in rural PA where curbside pickup is not viable and where residents are already relying on drop-off centers to recycle their material. There are convenience center models across the country. Some are managed by county or local governments, while others are contracted to private companies. Some service entire counties, while others service one or more municipalities. KPB does not recommend a specific management model but does recommend that the centers be staffed, contained, have convenient and consistent hours of

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operation, and accept both waste and recycling materials including tires, electronics, and other recyclables. These centers should be able to collect a fee for bagged trash and other special and clearly defined materials such as couches, mattresses, or other large bulky items. KPB maintains that the money saved from not having to clean up road-side dumps coupled with revenue from the collected materials will help offset costs. The following measures have been recommended by KPB at the residential level to advance proper waste and recycling management: • Ensure all residents have universal access to waste and recycling collection; • Expand curbside collection where feasible; • Develop a network of staffed convenience centers where curbside pickup is not feasible; • Provide for collection of bulk items and appliances at curbside or at established convenience centers; • Promote municipal contracts to control costs and provide for universal services; and • Institute a subsidy for eligible low-income households. Ensuring universal access to convenient and affordable trash disposal and recycling in PA will

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help meet the primary objective of Act 101, addressing improper municipal waste practices that create public health hazards, environmental pollution, and economic loss, and cause irreparable harm to the public health, safety, and welfare. Without the added cost of addressing illegal dumping, local governments could put public works budgets to better use. Resources could be dedicated to enhancing infrastructure or parks and recreational services, rather than removing illegally dumped tires, furniture, appliances, and construction debris. By eliminating the contamination from illegally dumped trash and having fee-based trash collection, local recycling drop-off collection programs could be more sustainable. About the Author: Shannon Reiter is president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. You can reach her at [email protected]. Learn more at www.keeppabeautiful.org. i

Act 101 Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of July 28, 1988.

ii

Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Discovery: Recommended Policies and Programs for Future Prevention and Enforcement, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and Nestor Resources, 2014.