Pittsburgh introduces overhaul on recycling code

Pittsburgh City Council Member Erika Strassburger introduced an overhaul of the city’s municipal waste and recycling code earlier this month. The legislation was introduced with the hopes of streamlining and clarifying the existing waste and recycling code, according to WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh.

During a city council meeting, Strassburger said the city’s code for waste and recycling hadn’t been revamped for “decades.” Under the new guidelines introduced at a city council meeting, provisions for the code would:

•  require that municipal waste and recycling is stored in durable, watertight containers with close-fitting lids; 
• prohibit the storage of nonrecyclable waste in blue bags or blue containers to prevent contamination; 
• require that waste and recycling containers are set out no earlier than 6 p.m. one day before collection and removed from the curb no later than 7 p.m. on the day of collection;
• mandate that landlords of properties with five or fewer units provide waste and recycling containers to tenants; and
• increase participation in recycling by simplifying the language.

The full updates to the code can be found online.