Dear Business Community Member,

Peters Township is committed to a beautiful, clean,environmentally-friendly community. In order to keepreaching these goals, we are calling on the entirePeters Township business community to do its part.Not just because it’s the law, but because PetersTownship’s recycling program helps improve thecommunity and enables the Township to receivegrant funding to benefit everyone.

Please take a moment to review this brochure.It will help you implement a sustainablerecycling plan for your business, familiarizeyou with some of the many benefits ofcommercial recycling, and offer a fewsimple suggestions to help you comply.

Recycling is required under PennsylvaniaAct 101. Failure to comply can result inpenalties of $100 to $1,000. Each businessis required to recycle. If you are in amulti-tenant building you should encourageyour landlord to provide a common recyclingcontainer dumpster next to your garbagedumpster. Both Allied and WasteManagement can provide such containers.

The Peters Township Municipal Office isavailable to answer questions at 724.941.4180or you can visit the Recycling section of ourwebsite at www.peterstownship.com.

Thank you for sharing in our commonenvironmental concerns.

Sincerely,

Michael A. SilvestriTownship Manager

•Recycling:We MeanBusinessA GUIDE TOCOMMERCIALRECYCLING INPETERS TOWNSHIP

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The Factson Recycling77% of paper waste generated in offices is recyclable.Typical business offices generate about 1.5 pounds of waste paper per employee each day. Financial businesses generate more than 2 pounds per employee daily.Nearly half of typical office paper waste is high grade office paper.Eliminating office paper from your waste may reduce your waste bill by as much as 50%.About 65 percent of America's aluminum is being recycled, yet, more than one million tons of aluminum containers and packaging are thrown away each year.Nearly 55 percent of a new aluminum can is made from recycled aluminum.Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours.More than 70% of all corrugated boxes are collected for recycling.

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Recycling isn’t just a great idea. It’s the law. In 1988the Pennsylvania State Legislature enacted Act 101entitled “Pennsylvania's Municipal Waste Planning,Recycling and Waste Reduction Act”. Act 101requires commercial, institutional and municipalestablishments in Pennsylvania to recycle thefollowing items:

• Corrugated cardboard

• High grade office paper

• Aluminum cans

• Leaf wasteIt is the goal of Act 101 that at least 25% of thewaste generated in Pennsylvania be recycled.In addition to requiring that materials be recycledbusinesses are also required to submit annualrecycling reports to Peters Township. These reportforms are mailed by Peters Township to allbusinesses in January. The report requestsinformation on what items are being recycled byyour business as well the their quantities. For manybusinesses this information is readilyavailable from their waste hauler.For others it means developingan internal method oftracking the quantities ofmaterials that are recycled.

Recycling: It’s the LawWhether your organization is housed in a numberof buildings or just one office, it will be necessaryto design a method for collecting recyclables. Thekey to developing an effective business recyclingprogram is to keep it SIMPLE and CONVENIENT.In developing your recycling plan consider thefollowing tips:

• Make recycling containers easy to recognize.Recycling containers for different types ofmaterial should be different colors. All high gradeoffice paper containers should be one color.Recycling containers aluminum cans another.

• Place recycling containers for aluminum cansnear vending machines.

• Use recycling containers for cans that havespecial lids with only a cane sized hole in the top.This will help avoid contamination of yourrecyclables.

• Place office paper recycling bins by everydesk and the copier to catch all unwanted highgrade office papers

• If your company uses a large amount ofcardboard, consider buying or leasing a

cardboard compactor. Recycling cardboardis worth money to recyclers and you.

• Make sure the recycling containerfits the item you are trying torecycle. Copier paper boxes makegreat high grade office paperrecycling containers.

Starting Your Business Recycling Program

OFFICE PAPER

ALUMINUMCANS

Office paper and computerpaper can be combined forrecycling. It must be kept dryand free from containmentssuch as paper clips and plastics.

Make sure all cans are empty and stored in a separate container.

CORRUGATEDCARDBOARD

Remove all packing material including, newspaper, Styrofoam, peanuts, and shredded paper. Also, remove all tape and staples. Flatten all corrugated boxes and keep themseparate from other paper.

OFFICE PAPERAbitibi Recycling has bin locations throughout

Peters Township. Residents may drop off catalogs,magazines, newspapers, junk mail, office paper, fax paper, school paper, notebooks, and folders at no charge in any of the following locations:

Peters Township Municipal BuildingPeters Township Public WorksPeters Township Middle SchoolSt. Benedict of the AbbottCenter Presbyterian Church

St. David’s ChurchBower Hill Elementary SchoolMcMurray Elementary SchoolTrinity United Methodist

Our Reedemer Lutheran ChurchHuntington Learning Center

Pleasant Valley Elementary SchoolPeters Creek Historical Society

Recycling ServicesMost waste haulers will for a fee collect and recycle youroffice materials. An advantage of this approach is thewaste hauler can provide your business the informationyou need to file your Peters Township annual recyclingreport. Waste haulers servicing Peters Township include:

Allied Waste412.429.2600

Waste Management800.866.4460

ALUMINUM CANSPeters Township Volunteer

Fire Department245 East McMurray Rd.,McMurray, PA 15317724.941.4176

(Proceeds are used for fire prevention education)For your office materials to be recycled care must be

taken in how they are collected and stored. Given beloware some generic tips for how to prepare your materialsfor recycling. You should however contact your wastehauler or recycler for specific instructions on how toprepare your office recyclables for market.

If you wish to dispose of your business recyclables onyour own, here are some tips on drop-off locations:

Recycling Preparations

Do-It-Yourself Recycling