Wednesday, July 4, 2018: Due to the 4th of July Holiday, all residential Penn Waste collections will be delayed one (1) day. Wednesday customers will be collected on Thursday. Thursday customers will be collected on Friday and so on for the remainder of the week through Saturday.
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Penn Waste wishes all of our customers a safe and happy holiday!
(Harrisburg) — The cost of recycling will likely go up for many midstate communities over the next few years.
A change of standards in China is causing recycling processors in the U.S. to recalculate.
China is the largest importer of U.S. recyclables. At the beginning of this year, the country enacted a ban on some materials and strictly limited the contamination allowed in shipments of others, from five percent to half a percent.
That’s driving up costs for processors like Penn Waste, which collects recycling from 70 municipalities in the region.
Marketing director Amanda Davidson said 35 percent of the material they collect as recycling is garbage that then needs to be disposed of.
A big problem is “hopeful recycling,” which means people will put things in recycling bins they want to be recyclable but should really be thrown out.
“So diapers, car parts, hoses, electrical cords, medical waste, clothing, mattresses. We’ve gotten deer carcasses. Deer season is a horrible time of year at our recycle center,” Davidson said as she gave examples.
She said now there’s added pressure to get these sometimes-hazardous items out of the waste stream.
Penn Waste has been investing in labor and equipment to reduce contamination.
The company is now charging a sustainability fee for commercial and private subscription customers.
Davidson said they are approaching municipalities now to see if they can renegotiate waste contracts to add a sustainability fee.
“Even if we don’t get a small increase now, everyone’s going to see a large increase later to make up for the impact that the recycling crisis is having,” she said.
The company plans to release new guidelines next month that should make it easier for customers to understand what’s recyclable and what’s not.
PENN WASTE, INC. EXEMPLIFIES COMMITMENT TO PROPER WASTE DISPOSAL WINS SWANA 2018 EXCELLENCE AWARD
York, PA (June 4, 2018) –The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) announced yesterday that Penn Waste, Inc. has been named the winner of the SWANA Silver Excellence Award in the Recycle Systems category. The award will be presented at SWANA’s annual conference, WASTECON®, on Wednesday, August 22, 2018, at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.
Penn Waste, Inc.is receiving the award for its York, Pennsylvania, 45-tph single stream system retrofit.
“We continue to invest in technology to boost throughput, recovery and purity,” said Amanda Davidson, director of marketing. “The complete retrofit took only 9 days. The results have led us to continue to expand our reach in what have become turbulent market conditions.”
The winning entry can be found on SWANA’s website in August.
SWANA’s Excellence Awards Program recognizes outstanding solid waste programs and facilities that advance the practice of environmentally and economically sound solid waste management through their commitment to utilizing effective technologies and processes in system design and operations, advancing worker and community health and safety, and implementing successful public education and outreach programs. Programs also must demonstrate that they are fiscally and environmentally responsible through their compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations.
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About Penn Waste, Inc.
Founded in 2000 by Scott Wagner, Penn Waste is South Central PA’s premier choice for residential and commercial waste removal and recycling services. A locally owned and operated company, Penn Waste is committed to improving the communities we serve throughout the counties of York, Lancaster, Adams, Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry. For more information, visit www.PennWaste.com
About SWANA:
For more than 50 years, the Solid Waste Association of North America has been the leading professional association in the solid waste field. The association serves more than 10,000 members throughout North America, and thousands more with conferences, certifications, publications and technical training courses.