Title
Ordinance amending the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances Title VI: Conduct, Article I: Regulated Actions and Rights, by adjusting language in Chapter 619: Municipal Waste and Recycling, sections 619.02, 619.03, and 619.04, to keep waste and recycling code relevant to current practices in the City of Pittsburgh.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh is the only municipality in Allegheny County that collects waste and recycling from its residents, and thus, the Department of Public Works - Bureau of Environmental Services is responsible for the culture of proper waste collection and recycling participation in all our 90 neighborhoods; and,
WHEREAS, the City's Chapter 619: Municipal Waste and Recycling code outlines requirements for the collection and storage of waste and recycling and informs residents of their responsibilities; and,
WHEREAS, when Pittsburgh began its recycling program in 1991, residents used now-historic blue grocery bags to contain their plastics, glass, and aluminum for curbside collection by the Bureau of Environmental Services; and,
WHEREAS, in 2023, the City implemented a Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban, coinciding with the completion of delivering 98,000+ blue recycling bins to every home from which the City collects recyclables, functionally replacing blue plastic bags; and,
WHEREAS, bolstered by digital and mail communications, and "no bags" visuals on the individual blue bin lids, the Bureau of Environmental Services and contracted Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) will no longer accept plastic film in the recycling stream, and therefore will no longer collect recyclables in blue plastic bags.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Ordinance amending the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances Title VI: Conduct, Article I: Regulated Actions and Rights, by adjusting language in Chapter 619: Municipal Waste and Recycling, sections 619.02, 619.03, and 619.04, to keep waste and recycling code relevant to cur...
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