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Mt. Lebanon addresses possibility of penalties for recycling improperly

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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For much of the South Hills, 2020 could be a costly year.

“It’s the first time ever for any of our communities that we have a potential penalty that can be invoked as part of what we’re doing or not doing related to recycling,” Mt. Lebanon municipal manager Keith McGill said. “So we want to make sure that we’re being proactive and doing everything we can in advance to put the municipality in the best possible position.”

Under contracts negotiated with hauler Waste Management through the South Hills Area Council of Governments, member municipalities entered 2019 with changes to the materials permitted for curbside recycling pickup, most notably the elimination of glass products and several types of plastics. As of next year, the contracts call for extra charges per ton of recycled materials that contain such items, deemed contaminants.

During Mt. Lebanon Commission’s April 9 discussion session, McGill and other municipal officials addressed the need for residents to adhere to the recycling guidelines that now have been in place for more than three months.

McGill announced Michael Brothers on Horning Road in Baldwin Borough is now collecting glass for recycling Mondays through Saturdays, following a successful two-day-a-week pilot program.

Also, Pennsylvania Resources Council has embarked on a series of “pop-up” glass recycling events in the South Hills and beyond, with the next ones both scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 13 at Dormont Pool and April 27 at Avalon Borough Park.

Regarding the amount Mt. Lebanon and other municipalities would be penalized and the methodology for determining such, officials are attempting to ascertain further details from Waste Management.

“We have requested to set up a conference call with Waste Management to talk to them about some of the issues that we see,” McGill said.

He also plans to take the company up on an offer made by its representatives.

“I’m going to ask them for a date or several dates where we would have the opportunity to go down to their recycling facility, watch a truck or two trucks that come in from Mt. Lebanon to get a firsthand view of exactly what we’re looking at,” he said, to help ascertain what types of contaminants are prevalent.

In turn, the municipality can concentrate on informing residents in more specific terms about what they should be correcting.

Waste Management officials said at a previous discussion session the company would start placing tags noting the recycling guidelines on containers with contaminants. That practice, though, has not started yet.

How much Mt. Lebanon stands to be penalized is vague at best, and officials plan to set up a conference call with Waste Management representatives for clarification.

“When you translate those dollars to a per-household amount, maybe it’s not a huge number,” Commissioner John Bendel said. “Even if it’s $25 a year, it’s something you wouldn’t have to pay if everybody was doing the right thing according to the contract.”

Public works director Rudy Sukal provided another reason to encourage recycling properly.

“The other part of that is it’s going to end up going to the landfill. You’re paying a penalty, and then it’s not being recycled because the load is contaminated,” he said. “That’s not our end goal here, either.”

Courtesy of Pennsylvania Resources Council

Glass sits in a box waiting to be recycled during a recent Pennsylvania Resources Council “pop-up” event in Bethel Park.

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