Yard Waste Recycling

Haverford Township

Yard Waste Program Guidelines

 

 

Yard Waste

 

Haverford Township has initiated a Leaf and Yard Waste Recycling Program to comply with the new PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) requirements.  Recently Haverford Township joined hands with Marple Township and implemented a Leaf and Compost Program in response to new requirements initiated by the DEP, and to reduce leaf disposal fees.  This new program has already saved Haverford Taxpayers over $100,000.

 

Communities that apply for recycling grants are being required to initiate curbside leaf and yard waste recycling programs or risk losing grant money that the Township earns by recycling glass, plastic, aluminum, steel cans, and newspaper. The amount of grant money awarded will not increase from leaf and yard waste collection.

 

To comply with the new requirements, Haverford Township will begin Yard Waste Curb Side Collection on Wednesday, March 17, 2010, and will be collected each Wednesday, until October 27, 2010.

 

Yard Waste Collection:

 

  • Brush, leaves, and branches. Branches and brush must not be more than one-and-a-half inches in diameter, must be less than 3 feet long, and must be tied together.
  • Bundle them securely with twine or rope.  Do not use wire.
  • All yard waste must be in brown biodegradable bags or trash cans that can be easily lifted (less than 40lbs). Plastic bags cannot be used and WILL NOT be collected.
  • Yard waste must be at your collection point by 6:30 AM.

 

Unacceptable Material:

 

  • Litter/Trash/Garbage
  • Grass Clippings
  • Kitty Litter/Pet Manure
  • Plastic bags and containers excess of 40 lbs.
  • Branches over 3 feet in length / Branches over 1 ½ inches in diameter.

 

 

Holiday Schedule:

 

If your collection day falls on or after a holiday, yard waste collection will be done the following week.

 

 

Why Yard Waste Composting?

 

Nearly two million tons of yard waste such as leaves, grass clippings and brush are produced in Pennsylvania each year. Until 1988, much of this yard waste went into Pennsylvania landfills. Then in 1988, the Pennsylvania Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101) became law. Act 101 set a goal of reducing Pennsylvania's municipal waste disposal by 25 percent by 1997. It also requires more than 400 communities to collect yard waste for composting and prohibits landfills from accepting truckloads of yard waste for disposal.

 

Yard waste can be easily composted to produce beneficial products such as soil conditioners or mulch. Yard waste composting is a sensible solid waste management alternative for Pennsylvania municipalities.

 

The State Law:

 

Section 1501 of PA Act 101 stipulates the requirements for all households and commercial, institutional and municipal establishments in mandated communities to separate leaf waste for collection. (A mandated community is any municipality with 5,000 or more residents). Compliance with Act 101, therefore, means that in mandated communities, leaf waste is not to be thrown out with household waste or burned as a means of disposal. Leaf waste is defined in Act 101 as "leaves, garden residues, shrubbery and tree trimmings, and similar material, but not including grass clippings. In addition, Section 1501(c)(2) of the Act requires mandated communities to have a scheduled day, at least once per month, during which separated materials are to placed at the curbside for collection.

 

 


News

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