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Jump-start Your Recycling Program —
save money and achieve goals of management efficiency simultaneously!
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Join the Greater Philadelphia Commercial
Recycling Council and help to ensure that the Greater Philadelphia
region continues to move toward a sustainable future in the 21st
Century!
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Waste Audits
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 Regulatory Issues
 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Plan (NEW)
Pennsylvania
Universal Wastes
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Philadelphia
 City
of Philadelphia — Commercial Recycling Regulations
The Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Council can help Philadelphia
businesses come into compliance with Philadelphia solid waste regulations.
We can help you fill out your Recycling Plan. Download here a .PDF
copy of the NEW Philadelphia
Commercial Recycling Plan. We also provide waste audits and program
evaluations. E-mail us or give
us a call at 215-247-3090.
Commercial recycling regulations for Philadelphia require all businesses that utilize a private trash hauler to do the following:
1. Prepare and submit a recycling
plan (a .pdf version of the Recycling
Plan may be downloaded here. You must send it to the City of Philadelphia
to be in full compliance with the law)
2. Distribute information on the
plan to all employees and/or tenants
3. Publicly post the plan
4. Separate recyclables up-front
(before putting in trash)
5. Provide adequate recycling
containers to all building occupants
6. Create an education program
to communicate expectations, changes, impacts, etc.
7. Use a hauler or recycling company
that is licensed by the City of Philadelphia ( Licensed
Philadelphia Haulers )
8. Make sure your waste service
contractors have provided appropriate containerization for keeping
trash and recyclables separate during transportation and processing.
• MANDATORY
| MANDATORY |
| Commercial/Industrial/Government
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Apartments/Residential
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Construction/Demolition
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| High
grade office paper |
Glass
food & beverage containers |
Ferrous
and nonferrous metals |
| Aluminum,
including cans |
Aluminum
cans |
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| Corrugated
paper |
Steel
& bimetal cans |
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Ferrous
& on-ferrous metals
(Except bimetal & steel cans) |
Newsprint |
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| Garbage
(food waste & other organics) |
Motor
oils |
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| Yard
waste |
Yard
waste |
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| Motor
oils |
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In addition to the recovery and recycling of mandatory materials defined above, the City of Philadelphia also requires regulated properties to choose two of the items below as part of their programs.
• ELECTIVE
| ELECTIVE |
| Commercial/Industrial/Government
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Apartments/Residential
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Construction/Demolition
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| All grades
of paper not recycled in Mandatory list |
Corrugated
paper and paper board |
Concrete,
sand and glass |
| Glass
food and beverage containers |
All other
grades of paper |
Lumber
and other wood |
| Plastics
|
Plastics |
Plaster,
drywall and other gypsum products |
| Steel
and bimetal cans |
Garbage
(food waste & other organics) |
Roofing
material |
| Textiles,
Tires and other rubber |
Textiles,
Tires and other rubber |
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For official municipal information visit the
City of Philadelphia's commercial recycling page, or call the
Philadelphia Streets Department Recycling Unit — Commercial Recycling
section at 215-686-5586 and ask them to send you a copy of
the city's commercial recycling handbook Recycling, We Mean Business.
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Pennsylvania
ACT 101: Pennsylvania's Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling
and Waste Reduction Act
(adapted from the PA DEP web site, see below)
Who is participating?
Residential apartment complexes, commercial, institutional and municipal establishments, and community activities within 415 municipalities that have at least 5,000 residents and a population density greater than 300 people per square mile. Act 101 established an original goal of 25% recycling for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That goal was reached by 1999. State government has established a new goal of 35% recycling.
ACT 101 REQUIREMENTS
Municipalities must write ordinances that require commercial
establishments to recycle:
 Corrugated Cardboard
High grade office paper
Aluminum cans
Leaf Waste
Other materials required by local ordinance
Residential municipal recycling must include leaf waste and
at least three of the following:
Clear glass
Aluminum cans
Plastics
Newsprint
Leaf Waste
Colored glass
Steel and bimetallic cans
Office Paper
Corrugated cardboard
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Universal
Wastes
For more detail on PA's Universal Waste and for lists of service
companies, go to: DEP's
Hazardous Waste Management Homepage
 EPA
Universal Waste Rule
(adapted from the US EPA web site, see below)
Reinventing Environmental Regulations
As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) commitment to reinvent environmental regulations, the Agency recently issued the "Universal Waste Rule." This rule is designed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste items in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, encourage recycling and proper disposal of certain common hazardous wastes, and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses that generate these wastes.
By reducing administrative requirements, this rule is expected to save companies more than $70 million per year in compliance costs and reduce the amount of time spent on paperwork requirements by over 500,000 hours per year. Administrative reductions also would help encourage collection and recycling programs, thereby reducing the amount of these common hazardous items that are thrown into the trash by households and small businesses. Removing these materials from municipal landfills and incinerators will prevent a potential threat to public health and the environment.
This rule was promulgated by EPA as an amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. States that are authorized to implement the RCRA program are strongly encouraged to adopt this rule.
What Are Universal Wastes?
Agricultural pesticides that have
been recalled or banned from use, are obsolete, have become
damaged, or are no longer needed due to changes in cropping
patterns or other factors. They often are stored for long periods
of time in sheds or barns.
Batteries such as nickel-cadmium
(Ni-Cd) and small sealed lead-acid batteries, which are found
in many common items in the business and home setting, including
electronic equipment, mobile telephones, portable computers,
and emergency backup lighting.
Cathode Ray Tubes, the video display
components of television and computer monitors, typically contain
lead. Mercury is contained in several
types of instruments that are commonly used by electric utilities,
municipalities, and households. Among others, these devices
include barometers, meters, temperature gauges, pressure gauges,
sprinkler system contacts, and parts of coal conveyor systems.
Fluorescent Lamps, which typically
contain mercury and sometimes lead, and are found in businesses
and households. Examples of common types of lamps include fluorescent,
high intensity discharge (HID), neon, mercury vapor, high pressure
sodium, and metal halide lamps.
An opportunity is available for non-profit organizations to
apply for a cooperative
agreement [PDF File, 18 KB] to create an outreach program
to increase recycling of mercury-containing lights, particularly
the fluorescent lights.
Thermostats, which can contain
as much as 3 grams of liquid mercury and are located in almost
any building, including commercial, industrial, agricultural,
community, and household buildings.
Who Is Affected By This Rule?
Businesses
Universal wastes are generated by small and large businesses that are regulated under RCRA and have been required to handle these materials as hazardous wastes. The Universal Waste Rule eases the regulatory burden on businesses that generate these wastes. Specifically, it streamlines the requirements related to notification, labeling, marking, prohibitions, accumulation time limits, employee training, response to releases, offsite shipments, tracking, exports, and transportation. For example, the rule extends the amount of time that businesses can accumulate these materials on site. It also allows companies to transport them with a common carrier, instead of a hazardous waste transporter, and no longer requires companies to obtain a manifest.
Many industries strongly support this new rule because they have identified easy collection of universal wastes as a priority to ensure sound environmental management. This rule will make it easier for companies to establish collection programs and participate in manufacturer take-back programs required by a number of states. Many large manufacturers and trade associations are already planning national and regional collection programs for their products.
In Pennsylvania small generators are not exempt from these universal
waste requirements. Go to: Hazardous
Waste Management - Fluorescent Lamp Recycling for more information.
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