View the current issue of the
township newsletter --
The Penn Township Pipeline

RECYCLING IN PENN TOWNSHIP

Curbside Recycling
Drop-Off Recycling
Curbside Recycling Schedule
Leaf and Yard Waste Recycling 2010
Christmas Tree Recycling
Westmoreland Cleanways 2010 Recycling Guide
 

Curbside Recycling

The following items can be placed at the curb in your recycling bin for pickup. Note that recyclable items do not need to be separated by type in your recycling bin.

Plastic, 22-gallon recycling bins may be purchased from Penn Township for $8.00 each. If you are unable to visit the Municipal Building to purchase a bin during normal working hours, you can call 724-744-2171 to make arrangements to have a bin dropped off at your residence.

Remember that all households, businesses, churches, schools and institutions are required to recycle! Note that businesses, churches, schools and institutions cannot participate in curbside recycling, but are nonetheless required to make arrangements for their recycling pickup or disposal.

Drop-Off Recycling for Residents, Businesses, Churches, Schools, and Institutions

The following items can be dropped off for recycling.

Curbside Recycling Schedule

For residences, curbside recycling pickup is handled by the township refuse hauler Waste Management, who collects recyclable items on the same day as the trash pickup.

Residents east of the turnpike alternate recycling weeks with residents west of the turnpike with the following exception:

Homes located within the area bounded by Valley Club Drive, Raymaley Road and SR-130, although east of the turnpike, are picked up as though they are west of the turnpike. This area includes all areas within the housing plans of Cortina Maria, Prosperity Farms, Deerfield Estates, Penn Highlands, Country Farms and Penn Glade.

If you have questions about when your recyclables are picked up, please check with Penn Township (724-744-2171) or Waste Management (800-458-4090) regarding specific locations.

Important Note for Businesses/Organizations
Businesses, churches, schools, etc. are reminded that they are required to recycle, but they must make their own arrangements for pickup of their recyclable materials, or they may drop them off at Valley Landfill.

Upcoming dates for recycling pickup:

* Waste Management observes Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day as holidays. When a holiday falls during the week of your recycling pickup, your recyclable items (and trash) will be picked up one day later.
 

Leaf and Yard Waste Recycling 2010

New for this year, Penn Township will conduct a spring leaf and yard waste clean up for any residents, businesses, churches, institutions, etc. Waste must be brought to curbside NO LATER THAN April 12th, where it will be picked up by township employees and disposed of as compost at Valley Landfill. Leaves are NOT to be bagged.

Residents, businesses, churches, and institutions are reminded that they always have the option of dropping off leaves and yard waste into the free bin at Valley Landfill designed for composting. (Landscape businesses are not included for free drop off privileges.)

REMEMBER! No one, neither residents nor businesses, is permitted to burn leaves in Penn Township. Instead the following options are available:

Option 1 – Mulch & Compost: This is the preferred method as it returns nutrients to the soil by mulching and composting the leaves, brush, or other yard waste. Running over leaves with a mulching lawn mower reduces the leaves to shreds that decompose and fertilize your lawn.

Option 2 – Take Bagged Leaves and Yard Waste to Valley Landfill: Township residents and businesses (not landscaping companies) may take leaves in paper (not plastic) biodegradable bags and loose brush and twigs to Valley Landfill themselves between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on weekdays and 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays; there is no charge. If leaves are in paper biodegradable bags, they may be left in the bags but if they are in any kind of plastic bags whatsoever, they must be dumped from the bags and the bags removed.

In the fall of the year, Penn Township has 35-gallon, biodegradable, paper leave bags for sale at the municipal building in Harrison City between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays at the cost of $8.50 per 10 bags ($0.85 each).

Option 3 (only available for Fall Leaf Pickup) – Leaves may be Placed in Paper Biodegradable Bags for Curbside Pickup: Township residents (not including businesses) may place bags of leaves at the curbside for collection by Waste Management trucks on the first two Wednesdays in November and December only – that’s November 3rd and 10th and December 1st and 8th, 2010.

Option 4 – Rake Leaves to the Curbside for Vacuuming: Township residents, businesses, churches, schools, etc. may rake leaves to the curbside for vacuuming. The Township strives to maintain a collection schedule as appears below, but this schedule is subject to changing weather conditions. PLEASE KNOW THAT IF YOUR LEAVES ARE NOT PICKED UP DURING A SCHEDULED WEEK, THE TOWNSHIP WILL COME BACK TIME AND TIME AGAIN UNTIL ALL LEAVES ARE PICKED UP.

West of the Turnpike: Pickup will be during weeks of October 3, October 17, October 31, November 7, November 21, and later if need be.

East of the Turnpike: Pickup will be during the weeks of October 10, October 24, November 14, November 28, and later if need be.
Keep in mind that a very early or late frost, high winds, or heavy rains can all affect when the leaves fall, so the schedule shown for leaf vacuuming is just approximate.

Christmas Tree Recycling

Residents, businesses, churches, and institutions may all participate in the township’s Christmas Tree Recycling conducted in the west end of the Township at the corner of SR-130 and Murrysville Road at the PTARC ball field, or in the east end of the township at Schramm’s Farm Store parking lot. The dates for tree drop off are December 27th through January 9th. Trees are chipped by the Township and the chips are taken to Valley Landfill for composting.