Recycling

In September of 1991, the Borough of Somerset began mandatory recycling, as required by act 101 of the Pennsylvania State Legislature. This meant that every residential property and every business in Somerset Borough has needed to separate waste into recyclable and non-recyclable materials.

• Each residential owner or occupant is required to separate glass, colored glass, and aluminum cans, as well as leaf waste. Additionally each residential owner or occupant needs to authorize a Borough of Somerset licensed hauler/collector to regularly collect these recyclable materials.
• The commercial, institutional and municipal establishments, in addition to separating clear glass, colored glass, aluminum cans and leaf waste, will require to separate high-grade office paper and corrugated paper. This requirement also applies to fairs and community events.
• Any commercial, institutional and municipal establishment which has otherwise provided for the recycling of these materials may be exempted from the requirements of the recycling ordinance. To be exempted , such establishments must provide written documentation on an annual basis concerning the number of tons recycled. Forms are available at the manager's office.

Here are some suggestions for participating in a recycling program.

• Set aside some storage space for your recyclables. This storage space doesn't have to be inside, but it should be clean and out of the rain because water and dirt in containers interfere with recycling.
• If you don't have a special container for your recyclables, you can use any sturdy container from your house such as a cardboard box, crate or bucket.
• Rinse recyclable beverage and food containers to keep insects away.
• If you collect a lot of recyclables, crush or flatten plastic bottles, aluminum cans and steel cans to save space. But if you don't use that many items, don't worry about crushing or flattening because the recyclers will do it with specialized machinery.
• Do not crush glass bottles. The recyclers use machines to crush the glass themselves.
• Try to buy items in containers that can be accepted by our recycling program and centers.
• Another way to reduce household trash is by creating less trash in the first place, a process known as source reduction.

Here are a few reduction pointers.

• Buy products made from or packaged in recycled or returnable containers. Some packaging made from recycled materials is marked with a recycling symbol. If the inside of the box is gray, this means the box was made from recycled material.
• Buy items in the largest possible size because you'll use fewer containers this way.
• Avoid a disposable product when a reusable one will work just as well.