SAINT CLAIR — The borough will be rolling out its new recycling truck in two weeks for its first curbside collection.
Saint Clair is the latest municipality to close a county drop-off site to start its own service. The borough recently purchased the truck with a $204,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The grant included a 10 percent match from the borough.
“It’s top of the line,” Bill Umbenhaur, acting borough superintendent, said Friday.
The grant also allowed the borough to purchase 1,710 25-gallon bins for every household to hold recyclables. Plastic, glass, newspaper, metals, cardboard and other recyclable materials can be placed in the same bin. Jars and cans should be rinsed clean. The truck will then take it to Cougle’s Recycling Inc., Hamburg, where the materials will be sorted by machine.
Recycling pickup will be every Thursday and Friday morning. The routes will be split like they are for garbage pickups on Mondays and Tuesdays — half the borough on one day and the rest the following day.
The new program will serve two purposes, Roland Price, borough secretary, said Friday.
“We take less to the dump and we are also being reimbursed per tonnage,” Price said.
He said the “ultimate goal” is to save 40 percent annually on landfill tipping fees.
The borough will eliminate the county recycling bins from the drop-off site Sept. 23. Curbside collection starts Sept. 24 and 25.
“Most people are receptive of the service,” Price said.
In fact, he said some people have even started placing their bins outside.
“People are changing their attitudes about recycling,” Price said.
Price believes the curbside service will be more effective than using a county drop-off site. While using drop-off sites is voluntary, Price said municipalities can issue ordinances making it mandatory to recycle.
“I want the program to work,” Umbenhaur said. “It is going to be easier on the borough, the workers, everybody.”
Meanwhile, the county will be down to 19 drop-off sites by the end of the month. Cressona is closing its drop-off site Sept. 30 and will be looking at starting its own curbside service.
Cressona’s agreement with Kreitzer Sanitation, Frackville, expires at the end of 2016 and the borough will be exploring options with the company regarding curbside pickup, Shawn Felty, borough councilman, said.
“People are starting to gravitate toward curbside,” Joseph Scribbick, county solid waste and recycling coordinator, said.
Umbenhaur said he expects to see more municipalities doing the same.
“Eventually, you are going to have to because dumps are going to become obsolete,” he said.
For more information about Saint Clair’s recycling program or to request a recycling bin, call borough hall at 570-429-0640.