(1) Definitions. In this Section, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) Paper shall mean newspapers, office paper, and corrugated cardboard.

(b) Plastic Container shall mean any individual bottle, carton, lid or tube composed of plastics.

(c) Glass Container shall mean any individual bottle, jar or carton composed of glass.

(d) Metal Can shall mean individual cans composed of metal and commonly containing beverages and food.

(e) Receptacle shall mean individual containers constructed of weatherproof, insect and rodent-proof material such as plastic or metal supplied to City residents for recycling purposes.

(f) Recycling shall mean any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products.

(g) Garbage shall mean animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

(h) Premises shall mean any dwelling, house, building or other structure.

(i) Yard Waste shall mean grass, leaves, tree and brush cuttings and similar material.

(j) Task Force shall mean the Inter-Agency Task Force on Recycling established under Section 10-717(3).

(2) Separation and Collection.

(a) Commencing on a schedule of dates to be determined by the Task Force, all owners or persons in control of any premises shall be required to separate from all other refuse that they set at curbside or other pick-up locations for collection by the City or any other collector the following items:

(.1) Paper;

(.2) Plastic Containers;

(.3) Glass Containers;

(.4) Metal Cans;

(.5) Garbage;

(.6) Yard Waste;

(.7) Such other items as may from time to time be mandated by regulation.

(b) The above items shall be set out for collection in no more than four (4) separate bundles or receptacles in such specific manner as shall be determined by regulations issued pursuant to Section 10-717(3)(b)(.1).

(c) In establishing the schedule by which the required source separation mandated in this Section shall begin, the Task Force may stagger such commencement dates for different sections of the City. Any such staggered schedule shall provide that at least one-third (1/3) of all City-collected premises will be subject to mandatory source separation within one year of the effective date of this Section, at least two-thirds (1/3) of all City-collected premises shall be subject to mandatory source separation within eighteen (18) months of the effective date of this Section, and that all households, and all other premises, shall be subject to mandatory source separation within two (2) years of the effective date of this Section.

(d) The source separation requirements of this Section shall not be deemed to apply to hazardous, pathological, or radioactive waste, nor to waste generated in patient care areas.

(3) Administration of the Recycling Program.

(a) There is hereby created in the Office of the Mayor, an Inter-Agency Task Force on Recycling. The Task Force shall be composed of the following individuals each of whom may designate deputies to represent them in performing Task Force duties:

(.1) The Managing Director;

(.2) The Commissioner of Streets;

(.3) The Commissioner of Public Property;

(.4) The Procurement Commissioner;

(.5) The Commerce Director;

(.6) The Water Commissioner;

(.7) The Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections;

(.8) The following individuals by invitation:

(i) The Superintendent of Schools;

(ii) The Chairperson of the Philadelphia Port Corporation;

(iii) The President of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation;

(.9) The Chairperson of the Recycling Advisory Committee;

(.10) The Recycling Coordinator of the City of Philadelphia;

(.11) Such other officials as the Mayor determines can contribute to the sound development and administration of the City’s recycling program.

(b) The duties of the Task Force shall be the following:

(.1) To promulgate regulations, consistent with the provisions of Section 10-717(2), and in accordance with the procedures and timetables set forth in Section 10-717(3)(e) and 10-717(3)(f), establishing the timetable for commencement of mandatory source separation, days for collection, manner of collection, placement, and location of bundles and receptacles, and governing such other matters pertaining to the collection, removal and disposal of these materials, as shall assure their recycling;

(.2) To develop and implement an educational program, in cooperation with the public and private school systems, labor organizations, businesses, neighborhood organizations, and other interested parties, and using flyers, print and electronic advertising, public events, promotional activities, public service announcements and such other techniques as it deems useful, to assure the greatest possible level of compliance with the provisions of this Section;

(.3) To take all steps necessary for the development and establishment of not less than six (6) intermediate processing centers to be strategically sited so as to best provide for the recycling of all recyclable materials collected by the Streets Department, and by private haulers, within all areas of the City. Each such center may be owned and/or operated by either the City, by any of its public or quasi-public agencies, by a private concern, or by a public-private joint venture;

(.4) To take all steps necessary for the development, siting, and establishment of such facilities as shall be needed to fully recycle all garbage and yard waste collected within the City;

(.5) To develop formulas and mechanisms for determining the saved disposal costs attributable to the recycling program created under this Section, and to implement appropriate mechanisms for sharing such savings, through price supports, rebates, bonuses, or other methods, with parties helpful to the growth and success of the program, including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

(i) Streets Department workers, based on verifiable productivity gains;

(ii) Businesses using secondary materials, located or locating within the City of Philadelphia to the extent that such companies provide new or enhanced markets for portions of the City waste stream which are dedicated for recycling under the City’s recycling program;

(iii) Buy-back and drop off centers, and other community-based recycling efforts which, in the opinion of the Task Force, are making, or can make, a significant contribution to enlarging or maintaining public participation in the City’s recycling program or otherwise reaching the goals of this program;

(.6) To develop other funding and financing programs, in cooperation with the public and quasi-public economic development agencies of the City, to facilitate the development of Philadelphia businesses using secondary materials contained within the City’s waste stream;

(.7) To develop and implement such other programs as may be recommended by the Recycling Advisory Committee, which will further the recycling goals established by this Ordinance.

(c) In developing its strategy for the processing, marketing and disposition of recyclable materials, the Task Force shall accord priority consideration to persons who, within the City of Philadelphia, were engaging in the business of recycling, or otherwise providing lawful recycling services, on April 9, 1987.

(d) In order to develop proposed rules, regulations and programs for recommendation to the Task Force to enable achievement of the goals set forth in this Section, the Recycling Advisory Committee is hereby established. Members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Mayor within thirty (30) days from the date of the final enactment of this Section, as follows:

(.1) one member shall represent the collective bargaining unit representing those workers whose primary duty is the collection of household trash;

(.2) one member shall be a person engaged in the business of recycling trash;

(.3) one person shall be engaged in the business of collecting and disposing of trash for private businesses;

(.4) one person shall be the administrator of a non-profit intermediate processing center;

(.5) one person shall be the chief administrator of a neighborhood non-profit recycling program;

(.6) one person shall be a collector of residential garbage under contract with the City;

(.7) one person shall be a representative of an environmental protection organization with an active recycling advocacy program;

(.8) one person shall be a representative of a recycling advocacy coalition focusing on Philadelphia waste management;

(.9) one person shall be a representative of each of the following businesses:

(i) glass recycling;

(ii) paper recycling;
(iii) aluminum recycling;

(iv) plastic recycling;

(v) construction or demolition.

The operating procedures and Chairperson of the Advisory Committee shall be selected by the Committee at its first meeting, and it shall employ such staff within budgetary constraints as it deems appropriate.

(.10) Additional persons shall be appointed to represent such other organizational categories, not to exceed five (5) in number, as the existing Committee may designate to the Mayor from time to time. Each additional representative shall be appointed no later than thirty (30) days after the new category describing such representative is submitted to the Mayor.

(e) Within ninety (90) days of the appointment of the Advisory Committee, it shall transmit to the Task Force, and release to the public, draft regulations fully providing for the governance of the matters set forth in Sections 10-717(2) and 9-604(5)(b)(.3). It shall also from time to time, upon such occasions as it deems appropriate, submit to the Task Force and the public, such additional recommendations regarding matters within the jurisdiction of the Task Force as it deems appropriate.

(f) Within forty-five (45) days of the transmission to the Task Force of the regulations described in subsection (3)(d), or of any other recycling recommendation of the Committee, the Task Force shall formally adopt same, subject to such changes as it shall deem necessary to make. In the absence of formal action by the Task Force within the required time frame, the proposal of the Committee shall be deemed adopted. In the event the Task Force desires to modify any proposal of the Committee, it shall fully explain in writing the reasons for its decisions. The Advisory Committee may appeal any decision of the Task Force to modify its proposals to the Mayor within ten (10) days of receiving same, and the Mayor shall render a final decision on such appeal within thirty (30) days thereafter. In the absence of a written decision by the Mayor within the appropriate time period, the appeal of the Advisory Committee shall be deemed sustained.

(g) The chairperson of the Task Force shall be the Recycling Coordinator of the City of Philadelphia. The Recycling Coordinator shall be appointed by, and shall serve at the pleasure of, the Mayor, and shall report to and be supervised by, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor. The Mayor shall consult with the Advisory Committee prior to making this appointment. The duties of the Recycling Coordinator and of his or her staff shall be:

(.1) to oversee, coordinate, and insure implementation of the recycling duties of all Task Force and other agencies with recycling functions;

(.2) to perform such research and development activities as he or she may deem helpful to implementation of the City’s recycling program;

(.3) to evaluate in detail every three months, the effectiveness of the Task Force in achieving the recycling goals set forth in this Section, and to promptly transmit the report of his or her findings to the Council, the Mayor and the Advisory Committee;

(.4) to undertake and complete as soon as reasonably possible a Waste Composition Study for the purpose of determining that portion of the City’s waste stream that is recyclable given existing and reasonably foreseeable technologies and markets; provided, however, that no other requirement of Section 10-717 or any regulation issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Recycling, shall to any extent be deemed annulled, modified, deferred or otherwise affected by the performance of, or any delays in the performance of, the Study. Any consultants retained to perform this Study shall be approved by the Recycling Advisory Committee.

(4) Enforcement. In addition to the penalties imposed under Section 10-719 of the Code for violations of this Section, the Streets Commissioner shall be authorized to refrain from collecting or disposing of, or authorizing the collection or disposal of, any refuse set at curbside or other pick-up location which is not separated as required by this Section, and as required by regulations of the Task Force.

(5) Recycling Goals.

(a) In implementing the obligations described above, and in its overall administration of the City’s solid waste disposal program, the Task Force shall maintain as its highest priority, the accomplishment of the following goals:

(.1) the recycling of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the City’s total solid waste stream within two (2) years of the date of final enactment of this Section;

(.2) the recycling of at least thirty-five percent (35%) of the City’s total solid waste stream within three (3) years of the date of final enactment of this Section;

(.3) the recycling of at least fifty percent (50%) of the City’s total solid waste stream within four (4) years of the date of final enactment of this Section.

(b) The goals set forth above shall be reevaluated and may be modified by the Advisory Committee, subject to approval of the Task Force, upon consideration and review of the Waste Composition Study authorized in Section 10-717(3)(g)(.4).