Intermunicipal Relations Committee approves push for universal curbside recycling

Group votes to ask local lawmakers to introduce legislation

The council of governments that operates recycling programs for three central Blair County municipalities voted Tuesday to ask local lawmakers to introduce legislation to make curbside recycling mandatory statewide.

Curbside recycling -- for at least three of eight list materials, plus leaves -- is currently required for municipalities with populations greater than 10,000 or those between 5,000 and 10,000 and denser than 300 people per square mile, based on state Act 101, according to online sources.

The vote to urge the lawmakers to push for universal mandatory curbside recycling occurred upon the suggestion of Logan Township Supervisors Chairman Jim Patterson, a member of the Altoona-Hollidaysburg-Logan Intermunicipal Relations Committee.

Curbside recycling should be mandatory throughout Pennsylvania -- or not required of any municipality, Patterson said.

After the vote was taken, further discussion confirmed that the committee's unanimous action calls for urging lawmakers to push for making the requirement universal -- even though Patterson said he'd be OK with either that or abandoning the curbside recycling requirement altogether.

The current system is expensive for the mandated municipalities and for the haulers, according to Patterson.

Conversely, there are many people in non-mandated municipalities that would appreciate having the service, according to Patterson.

Committee Executive Director Brock Bryan favors the idea of mandating curbside recycling throughout the state.

It would be easier and simpler, he said.

It would be simpler, especially for haulers, who now need to ensure they track which customers live in mandated municipalities and which do not in areas where it's not obvious, based on those customers' addresses, Bryan said.

There are multiple municipalities that aren't mandated, but nevertheless contain homes with postal addresses for Hollidaysburg -- a mandated municipality, he said.

The current setup is less than ideal in a way that is similar to the requirements for vehicle emissions testing in Pennsylvania, which only applies to 25 of the 67 counties, according to Bryan and online sources.

The motion called for Bryan and Education and Enforcement Coordinator AJ Kurtz to write a letter to state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, and state Reps. Lou Schmitt, R-Blair, and Scott Barger, R-Blair/Huntingdon.

The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP) has a legislative arm that could help in the effort, according to Kurtz.