Compost / Recycling

Single Family Residential Establishments (single family homes and properties that have three or less multifamily dwelling units) are required by Pennsylvania law and Township ordinance to separate recyclable materials from the waste generated at their property.

The materials required to be recycled are:

Aluminum Cans

• Glass Containers
• Office Paper
• Other Clean Paper
• Newspapers
• Junk Mail
• Number 1 & 2 Plastics
• Steel & Bimetal Cans
• Cartons: food and beverage cartons such as milk, juice, soup, broth, etc. 
• Leaf Waste
• Yard Waste

Other than the leaf and yard waste, all of these materials are required to be collected curbside by your contracted hauler on at least a weekly basis.  Typically these materials are separated into two categories; commingled materials (aluminum, glass & plastics) and paper (newspaper, office & other clean paper).  Collection details may vary so please contact your hauler directly for specifics on how recyclable materials should be prepared for collection.

Leaf and yard waste is collected at various times throughout the year by East Norriton Township personnel.  Please see the Leaf and Yard Waste Collection section of the website for more information and details regarding these collection services.

It is important to note that your contracted hauler is not required to collect municipal waste from any residential establishment where it is obvious that recyclable materials have not been separated from your trash.

required by State Law and Municipal Ordinance

(Recycling Rules (for Businesses in East Norriton Township)

You are required by law to provide an annual recycling report to the East Norriton Township recycling coordinator.  Act 101 of 1988 and East Norriton Township Ordinance requires commercial, industrial and institutional establishments located in Pennsylvania municipalities with a population greater than 5,000 to recycle the following:

Apartment Complexes & Multi-Family Residential Communities Aluminum Cans Glass Containers Office Paper Other Clean Paper Newspapers Junk Mail Number 1 & 2 Plastics Steel & Bimetal Cans Leaf Waste

Commercial, Industrial & Institutional Businesses Aluminum Cans Office Paper Corrugated Cardboard Leaf Waste

All apartment complexes or multi-family residential communities (nursing homes, condominiums, retirement communities, etc.) are required to provide recycling containers or centralized collection containers for their residents.  At a minimum, you must provide one container for co-mingled recyclables including aluminum cans, glass, steel and bimetal cans and number 1 and 2 plastics; and a second container for newspapers, office paper, junk mail, cardboard and other clean paper.  You are required to report on a yearly basis how much recyclables are collected at your property.  Leaf waste must be separated from other waste and the amount removed should also be reported to the Township.

All commercial, industrial and institutional business owners and apartment complexes or multi-family residential communities in East Norriton Township are required to report on a yearly basis how much they recycle.  At the beginning of each year all businesses located in East Norriton Township are required to complete a Recycling Data Collection Form and return to the Township's recycling coordinator by February 28th of each year.  You will be asked to provide on the form the quantities of recyclables your business collected during the previous year.  The trash hauler that handles your recyclables should provide annual tonnage information to you.

For further information or to obtain collection forms, please contact:

F X Browne Inc

A Division of Bogia Engineering Inc

1101 S Broad Street

Lansdale PA 19446

215-870-8169

 

Municipal and state regulations require that residents, commercial establishments and non-residential establishments recycle all recyclable materials. Commonly recycled materials include paper, plastic, glass and metal. You should check with your hauler for a complete list of acceptable recyclable materials.

Batteries, once used simply for smoke detectors and TV remotes, are now used everywhere in our lives. What is the proper way to dispose of all of these batteries?  This is dependent upon the type of battery. Here is a list of different types of batteries and how to dispose of them in Montgomery County.

Alkaline batteries: Alkaline batteries include common disposable, such as AA through AAAA, C, and D batteries, 9-volt batteries, and button batteries with LR- at the beginning of the code printed on the face of the battery. Alkaline batteries are safe to dispose of with household trash. There are companies that will send you a bucket to fill with alkaline batteries (as well as other types of batteries) that you can send back to be recycled for a fixed rate, such as the iRecycle kit found at www.batterysolutions.com

Nickel-metal-hydride batteries: Nickel-metal-hydride batteries are most commonly found in the rechargeable versions of alkaline batteries. Nickel-metal-hydride batteries can be recycled at household hazardous waste collection events. A schedule of household hazardous waste collection events can be found by searching "household hazardous waste recycling” on www.montcopa.org

Lithium-ion batteries: This type of battery is used in many different devices in the home. They are used in cell phones, cameras, tablets, laptops, portable device chargers (also known as battery banks), wireless headphones, cordless vacuums, electric lawnmowers, and many other devices. Lithium-ion is also used in button batteries with CR- at the beginning of the code printed on the face of the battery.

Lithium-ion batteries can be recycled at household hazardous waste collection events. A schedule of household hazardous waste collection events can be found by searching "household hazardous waste recycling” on www.montcopa.org

Lead-Acid batteries: Lead-acid batteries are large batteries typically used in cars, boats, wheelchairs, snow mobiles, motorcycles, and golf carts. Lead-acid batteries can be recycled at household hazardous waste collection events. A schedule of household hazardous waste collection events can be found by searching "household hazardous waste recycling” on www.montcopa.org

Many people wonder what happens to the materials that they place in their recycling bin. There are three main types of recycling that post-consumer materials can undergo. Each has specific advantages and end products.

 

Primary recycling, often referred to as “closed loop recycling”, is when recyclable materials are mechanically processed to create a product that serves a similar function. For example, a post-consumer plastic bottle can be mechanically processed to create a new plastic bottle. This bottle has similar strength and performance characteristics as the original bottle. Some materials, such as aluminum and glass, can be recycled in this closed loop system an infinite amount of times. No matter how many times these materials are recycled; their material quality will not decrease. A glass bottle made with glass that has been recycled 20 times will perform just as well as a bottle made of new glass.

 

The quality of other materials, such as paper and plastic, decreases each time they are recycled. The strength of paper comes from the tangling of pulp fibers. Each time a paper product is recycled, these fibers become shorter, until they become so short they are unable to be used to create new paper. The EPA estimates that paper can be recycled a maximum of five to seven times. Plastic recycling fares worse. The polymers that make up plastics also are shortened each time the material is recycled, and it is estimated that plastic can only be recycled one to two times before the quality of the material is diminished.

 

This is where secondary recycling comes in. Secondary recycling is still a mechanical recycling process, but it uses recycled materials to make a new product. This new product typically does not have the same physical demands as the original product and is often less recyclable. Despite the decrease in recyclability, this is an important process to minimize the use of virgin resources and to help divert less recyclable materials such as plastic from landfills. An example of secondary recycling is plastic bottles being turned into polyester.

 

The third type of recycling is tertiary recycling. In tertiary recycling, recycled materials are used as a feedstock in a process to create chemicals and fuels. These chemicals can then be used to create new materials. This type of recycling typically uses the most energy, costs more, and can have similar negative environmental impacts as producing brand new materials. The benefits are reducing waste that is landfilled and minimizing new resources that are used to create chemicals. An example of tertiary recycling is the glycolysis of PET plastic into diols and dimethyl terephthalate to make virgin PET plastic.