152
THE COUNTY’S INFRASTRUCTURE BACKBONE
PLANNING ISSUE
Per capita rates of municipal
solid waste generation
continue to increase, while
recycling rates decrease in
the absence of a concerted
public education and
promotion program.
What’s New
•
Waste generation rates for Montgomery County
residents continue to rise, though slowly. In 2011, the
average rate was 4.4 pounds per capita per day. This is
slightly less than the national per capita per day
average of 4.6 pounds. In the same year, the county
recycling rate was 38.5%.
•
The County Municipal Waste Management Plan was
adopted in 1990, revised in 1994, and again in 2004 to
document 10 years of disposal capacity and plan for
recycling programs. A similar update is underway,
scheduled for completion in 2013, that will discuss the
municipal agreements for the Montgomery County
Resource Recovery Facility in Plymouth Township.
•
The 1,200 ton per day Montgomery County Resource
Recovery Facility is operated by Covanta Energy. It
began operation in 1993. Most of the waste going to
the facility comes from the Eastern District. In 2011,
the tipping fee was $65 per ton.
•
The 276-acre Pottstown Landfill closed for trash
disposal and recycling drop-off in October of 2005.
The landfill, operated by Waste Management Disposal
Services of PA Inc., was the last municipal waste
landfill operating in the county. The facility, shown
below, had been in operation for more than 70 years.
Sewage Facilities
Water Facilities
Solid Waste
Stormwater Management
Energy
Communications
Schools
Child Day Care
Emergency Services
Other Governmental Facilities
Solid Waste
“Solid waste” includes daily discards from residential,
commercial, industrial, and institutional establishments.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) refers only to discards
from commercial and residential establishments. The
county’s Municipal Waste Management Plan addresses
MSW through an integrated waste system of waste
reduction, recycling, energy recovery (incineration), and
landfilling. MSW management includes waste collection,
waste transportation, recycling and reuse, composting,
landfilling, and incineration.
Act 101 of 1988, the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling,
and Waste Reduction Act, addresses recycling, planning,
permitting, and operation of facilities for municipal waste.
Counties, instead of townships and boroughs, are given the
responsibility of municipal waste planning and disposal.
Under Act 101, the county maintains the municipal waste
plan, oversees a trash transfer station, promotes recycling,
reports recycling data, and manages the household
hazardous waste collection program. There are seven
existing municipal waste facilities located in the county, and
numerous out of county facilities that waste haulers may
choose from to process MSW from the county. These are
shown on the accompanying map.
Recycling is an important part of waste management. Act
101 mandated municipalities for curbside recycling are
shown on the accompanying map. Municipalities with
populations of at least 10,000, and those with populations
between 5,000 and 10,000 and more than 300 persons per
square mile are required to develop curbside recycling
programs. Many municipalities that do not meet these
thresholds have developed voluntary recycling programs.
The county achieved a 25% recycling goal by 1995.
People’s attitudes, packaging materials, and the economy
cause the recycling rate to fluctuate from year to year.
Residential and commercial educational programs that
emphasize the need, ease, and benefits of recycling are
usually successful. Recycling data collection has improved
recently, enabling the county to document its efforts to
achieve the state’s current goal of 35% recycling.
