Allentown receiving $315K for recycling efforts

The City of Allentown is receiving a performance grant of more than $315,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for the 18,125 tons of recycled residential and commercial waste in 2018.

The grant is based 100 percent on performance according to Ann Saurman, manager of the city’s Bureau of Recycling and Solid Waste.

“The residents of Allentown and our business community have been enthusiastic participants in the recycling program,” said Mayor Ray O’Connell in a press release.

Pennsylvania Act 101 mandates curbside recycling in municipalities with a population over 10,000 and offers grants to be applied toward recycling program sustainability and enhancements.

The city’s curbside recycling programs reach all 36,675 households. Approximately 500 businesses also participate in a once a week city curbside collection program.

Allentown offers curbside recycling of newspaper, cardboard, paperboard, magazines, catalogs, mail, phone books and all types of white and colored paper; plastic bottles, jars, tubs and containers marked with numbers #1 through #7; glass bottles and jars; aluminum cans, foil and pie plates; and steel cans, all of which count toward the performance grant.

The goals of Act 101 are to reduce Pennsylvania’s municipal waste generation; recycle at least 35 percent of waste generated; procure and use recycled and recyclable materials in state governmental agencies; and educate the public as to the benefits of recycling and waste reduction.