Commissioners Expected to Discuss New Lower Moreland Recycling Bins

The Lower Moreland Township board of commissioners will hold their committee work sessions tomorrow, starting at 7 p.m. in the township building.

Among the expected items of discussion will be the review and consideration of the 902 Grant Contract, under the Public Works Committee work session.

According to Lower Moreland Township manager Chris Hoffman, the 902 Grant Contract is a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) implementation grant, which the township had applied for during the 2012 summer. The grant would allow for the implementation of uniform recycling containers for all residents.

“That’s one of my favorite grant programs, because it’s 90-percent DEP and 10-percent township,” Hoffman said.  

Accordign to Hoffman, the DEP approved the grant application in late February or early March, providing the township with a $196,000 grant for implementation.

“The premise of doing the grant application was to find ways of controlling our costs,” Hoffman said. “As well as on the green side, it’s the right thing to do.”

Hoffman explained that the township is billed by the tonnage of trash collected. He said that townships with a uniformed recycling container paid less for disposal fees, due to the increase of recycling as encouraged by the uniform containers.

According to Hoffman, the township conducted a pilot program in 2011 with nearly 40 homes of the township. The study was done in partnership with the township’s contracted waste management company, Republic Services.

Hoffman said that recycling from the participating residents increased to 53-percent.

He added that Republic Services further encourages recycling by providing a single stream service, which means that recyclable materials need not be separated prior to placing them in the bins.

Since being approved by the DEP, the township has six months to agree with the grant contract, and then another six months to distribute the uniformed recycling containers. Hoffman said that the township will distribute containers for all homes coverd by the township’s residential trash and recycling collection, which amounts to 3,983 homes.

Other containers will be distributed to Bryn Athyn Borough residents, as well as be stored by the township as reserves.

Should the commissioners approve the DEP contract at their next business meeting, the township will have to choose a manufacturer for the containers. Size and color scheme are likely to be discussed at the May 7 committee meeting.

Hoffman said that Lower Moreland residents may see the uniformed containers as early as the fall.