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Recycling and Economic Development in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection provided the following information.
Policy
Pennsylvania's 1988 Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101) established a goal of recycling at least 25 percent of the municipal solid waste stream by January 1, 1997. This goal was reached, and subsequently increased to 35 percent of the municipal solid waste stream by January 1, 2003 that was also achieved. Act 101 established curbside recycling mandates for municipalities according to population size. Initially, all municipalities with populations over 10,000 were required to provide curbside collection to their residents by 1991, and ultimately all municipalities with populations over 5,000, and a population density of greater that 300 persons/square mile, were required to provide curbside collection to their residents. The mandated communities are evaluated with each population census.
Act 101 established a recycling fund supported by a $2 per ton fee on all waste accepted at municipal waste landfills and resource recovery facilities in the State. The funds have been used for municipal recycling and planning grants, market development activities, education and outreach, technical assistance, and waste processing and disposal feasibility studies. This fee, initially set to expire in 1997, has been extended until January 1, 2009. Efforts are underway to further extend this fee.
Recycling Economic Study
The U.S. Recycling Economic Information (REI) Study is an unprecedented national study that demonstrates the importance of recycling and reuse to the U.S. economy. The study, commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and numerous states through a cooperative agreement with the National Recycling Coalition, clearly shows what many have known for a long time -- that "Recycling is Working."
In Pennsylvania, 3,247 recycling and reuse establishments employ 81,322 people, with a total annual payroll of nearly $2.9 billion. Total annual sales receipts for these industries were $18.4 billion. The employment, payroll and sales numbers are more than any other state. Specifically, Pennsylvania leads in the glass, metals, paper, plastic and rubber industries.
In addition, Pennsylvania's recycling industries had an indirect effect on the economy, estimated at $1.8 billion, and had a direct impact on the tax base, contributing $305 million. The study also reports that 3.5 percent of Pennsylvania's jobs can be attributed to the recycling and reuse industry.
For more information, visit this link on the DEP website for the PA Recycling Economic Study.
Recycling Programs
Pennsylvania diverted a total of 4,703,076 tons of reusable materials from the state's disposal facilities in 2004. In addition, a total of 44,257 tons of materials were reported recycled by organizations other than counties. View calculations for the 2003 Recycling Data and Economic Value online.
While curbside recycling is mandatory in 415 communities with populations greater than 5,000, more than 450 additional communities have developed curbside recycling programs voluntarily--providing services to at least 85 percent of the state's residents. For more information view DEP’s Recycling Website.
Recycling Initiatives
- The Commonwealth supports waste reduction through the promotion of unit pricing for trash collection services. Currently, 213 communities use pay-as-you-throw programs.
- Under Act 190 of 1996, the Small Business and Household Pollution Prevention Program Act, DEP reimburses up to 50 percent of eligible program costs to approved sponsors, for Household Hazardous Waste Collections (including electronics and tires) not to exceed $100,000 per county per fiscal year. During FY 2004/05, almost 44,000 participants brought 2,515 tons of material to collection programs in 43 communities. During this same time period, 58 Act 190 grants totaling $899,355 were awarded to program sponsors. Visit the website to find out more about DEP’s household hazardous waste program.
- A statewide network of used-oil recovery sites is in place. Currently, there are 880 registered sites in 60 counties. Find the used oil collection site nearest you at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/cgi_apps/oil/.
- DEP's Recycling Technical Assistance Program providers have completed 177 assessments for the Commonwealth's local governments. Reports on these assessments, and information on the program can be located online.
Composting
As we saw in the Statewide Waste Composition Study, organics are a key component in Pennsylvania's waste stream. Statewide, organics make up 34.2% of the waste stream, with 3,204,208 tons disposed annually in the Commonwealth. For this study, organics are comprised of yard, food and wood waste, textiles and diapers.
- Home Composting Workshops have been held since 2000 in conjunction with the Agricultural Extension and PA Master Gardeners programs. Since it’s inception, about 60,000 backyard compost bins have been distributed throughout the Commonwealth, in exchange for attending a composting workshop.
- A general permit was developed for on-farm composting.
- The Education/Certification Program for Professional composters was kicked- off during 2002 with the first course - Composting Practical Science - held during June 2002. This course was developed in conjunction with PROP (Professional Recyclers of PA) and PACA (Pennsylvania Composting Association). Since that time, a compost recycling certification specialty has been developed by PROP. Visit PROP’s certification website for more information.
- A new grant program for enhancing composting infrastructure was announced in July 2002. Under the program, qualified existing and operating for-profit business entities and nonprofit organizations in this Commonwealth will be awarded grants to increase the quantity of yard waste and/or food wastes collected in this Commonwealth. The goal of this program is to increase the quantity of organic materials collected and composted to further increase this Commonwealth's recycling rate.
- A database of compost sites was developed.
- A best management practice has been developed for the use of compost as an erosion and sediment control.
- General permit WMGM015 for the processing and beneficial use of wood and timber waste (i.e., tree stumps, limbs, clean wood, untreated and unpainted wood and pallets) and the leaf and yard waste as mulch and compost to compliment the mulch production has been created.
- General permit WMGM017 for the processing and beneficial use of compost of manure, yard waste, source separated food scraps from food markets, grocery stores, food banks, food distribution centers, school cafeterias and institutions, source-separated newspaper, and source-separated corrugated paper (cardboard) as soil substitute, soil conditioner, fertilizer, mulch or soil amendment has been developed.
- General permit WMCM030 for composting yard waste facilities between 5 and 15 acres was developed.
- View On-farm composting information.
- View Compost facility permitting requirements.
Visit DEP's Composting Website.
Market Development
In FY 2000, DEP established the Recycling Markets Section, comprised of a Section Chief and three staff positions, dedicated to furthering the development of recycling markets in Pennsylvania. The Recycling Markets Section is responsible for the Commonwealth's recycling market development initiatives, including composting, market development technical assistance, buy-recycled outreach and promotion, product stewardship, and electronics recycling. The development and enhancement of recycling markets is crucial to the success of Pennsylvania's recycling program. Without markets, programs fail, which is why DEP continues to devote their efforts toward market development initiatives.
PA Recycling Markets Weblinks:
Recycling Markets Directory
Composting Directory
Recycling Drop-off Locations
MarketPlace Profiles
Unique Recyclables List
Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers
Tire Processors
Material Recovery Facilities
PA Glass Cullet Processors
PA Plastic Processors
PA Market Development Studies
One major initiative of the Recycling Markets program was the establishment of the PA Recycling Markets Center. The Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, located on the campus of PSU Harrisburg, was established in 2005 by grant from DEP through recycling fund monies. The initial grant was to PSU Harrisburg to establish the center as a separate non-profit organization, governed by its own board of directors. Subsequent DEP grants will be directly with the RMC.
Currently there are 11 board members, and 3 ex-offico members. The RMC is comprised of 4 staff positions, which have been in place since Nov 2005.
View the press release of the establishment of the Center.
The mission of the RMC is to expand and develop more secure and robust markets for recovered materials by helping to overcome market barriers and inefficiencies. In fulfillment of this mission, the Center will:
- promote the capacity of public and private organizations in the state to be effective actors in markets for recyclable materials and recycled products, and
- undertake efforts that remove barriers to market development.
Priority materials for the RMC are plastic, glass, organics and tires.
Since its inception, the RMC has tallied 80+ cases, with 71 clients in 33 counties. During its first full year of operation (2006), the RMC has projected economic benefits at $1.3 million, potential jobs created at 45, and approximate jobs retained at 1,200 positions.
The Recycling Markets Section also oversees Memorandums of Understanding with the Dept. of General Services, Dept. of Corrections, and PENNDOT (select Strategic Recycling Program) to further encourage these agencies to recycle, incorporate recycled materials into projects and buy recycled materials.
Tire Recovery
In 1996, the State Legislature passed the Waste Tire Recycling Act (Act 190), establishing a system to survey and identify the Commonwealth's largest tire piles and providing $5 million over a five-year period for tire clean-up contracts, to be awarded through competitive bidding. Two million dollars of investment tax credits were also designated annually for companies investing in tire recycling equipment. This program expired in 2001.
In FY1997, the PA General Assembly approved the allocation of additional resources to remediate priority waste tire piles located in the Commonwealth. This funding which supplemented existing appropriations under Act 190 created the Municipal Waste Tire Remediation Grant Program. Since 1998, a total of $14 million has been allocated for grants under this program. Through the combination of grant programs and targeted enforcement, the 36 million stockpiled tires identified in March 1997 have been reduced to about 8 million tires.
(View the 2004 Waste Tire Recycling Update.)
Recent amendments to Act 190 have resulted in the Waste Tire Hauler Program and the registration of Waste Tire Processing Facilities. See DEP’s waste tire website for additional information.
DEP's goal is to remove and reuse all tires in the Commonwealth's abandoned scrap tire piles and to develop or expand markets for the continued reuse of newly generated tires.
Studies on understanding the composition of waste and recycling streams.
Understanding the waste stream, and the composition of recycled materials is crucial to developing a targeted recycling program that will get the 'biggest bang for the buck.' Knowing where to target our resources will help us spend funding wisely.
In 2001, the summer and fall sorts of the Waste Composition Study were completed, and in 2002 the contractor for the study, R.W. Beck, completed the winter and spring sorts, along with the Recycled Materials Composition Study. Sorting took place at one-week intervals, on random samples of Pennsylvanian generated waste, which was sorted and weighed to determine percentages of 38 different waste categories. The sorted waste was generated from commercial and residential areas and consisted of urban, suburban and rural area samples. Results
View the Statewide Municipal Waste Composition Study.
In order to better understand the composition of recyclables collected in the Commonwealth, PADEP also conducted a Recovered Material Composition Study.
Electronics Recycling—eCycling
DEP provides funding for counties through its household hazardous waste (HHW) program, providing up to 50% reimbursement for electronics recycling, with a maximum of $100,000 per county. Since 2001, DEP has awarded over $1 million in financial support to local communities resulting in:
- 4 million pounds of unwanted electronic equipment recycled since 2001;
- 39 county electronics recycling events and the establishment of 13 permanent county-wide collection programs; and
- Collection of over 1 million pounds of “other electronics,” such as cell phones, VCRs and small kitchen appliances, for recycling and reuse.
Through its partnerships with EPA, OEMs and recyclers, DEP has arranged for additional assistance to counties for electronics recycling. For example, the Department has channeled $79,000 of its RCRA hazardous waste grants to offset some or all of the 50% not covered by HHW grants and to help fund necessary public awareness costs. Some counties have chosen to charge residents per item for recycling at collections or use the federal prison system (UNICOR) that provides recycling services at a substantially lower rate to offset recycling costs.
On October 21, 2002, the Division of Municipal and Residual Waste in the Bureau of Waste Management issued a Department-initiated general permit for the recycling of electronic equipment. The decision to initiate the general permit was due to the increased demand for recycling options for electronic equipment, as well as the realization that recycling facilities already existed and the majority operated without Department oversight. The permit covers the processing and beneficial use for the sorting, disassembling, and mechanical processing of various uncontaminated and source-separated electronics equipment and components. View the beneficial use permit # WMGR081. View PA Electronics Recyclers.
Throughout October and November of 2005, DEP staff worked with the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services and Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) to conduct seven technical training workshops for appointed and elected municipal officials on computer and electronics recycling.
There are now 14 permanent collection sites in PA for electronic equipment, as well as many one-day events across the Commonwealth.
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