Acts:

Act 2 - Lands Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act. Passed in 1995 to address the reuse of industrial and commercial lands.

Act 57 - Legislation affecting the 902 grant section of Act 101. (See page's 24 through 27)

Act 90 - Prohibits vehicles without a valid Waste Hauler Authorization sticker from using Pennsylvania waste disposal and processing facilities after December 26th, 2002.

Act 93 - Infectious and Chemotherapeutic Waste Disposal Act. Passed in 1988 to address the disposal of infectious and chemotherapeutic wastes.

Act 97 - The Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act of 1980.

Act 101 - the Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988.

Act 108 - Hazardous Site Cleanup Act. Provides for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

Act 125 - The Forest Lands Beautification Act.

Act 155 - Waste Tire Recycling Act/Small Business and Household Pollution Prevention Program Act. Passed in 1996 to address the waste tire and household hazardous waste disposal problems.

Act 175 - Extended the sunset date of Act 101 from 2003 til January 1st 2009

Act 198 - Pennsylvania Solid Waste Resource Recovery Development Act. Promotes development and construction of solid waste disposal/processing and resource recovery systems.

Agricultural Waste - Poultry and livestock manure, or residual materials in liquid or solid form, generated in the production and marketing of poultry, livestock, fur-bearing animals and their products, provided such waste is not a hazardous waste. The term includes the residual materials generated in producing, harvesting, and marketing of all agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and agricultural crops or commodities grown on what are usually recognized and accepted as farms, forests or other agricultural lands.

Baler - A machine which compacts waste or recycling materials to reduce volume, usually into rectangular bundles.

Beneficial Use - Reuse of residual waste if the use does not threaten public health, safety, welfare, or the environment.

Bi-Metal Can - A can made from two or more metals, usually steel and tin or aluminum. Generally used to refer to beverage cans with steel bodies and aluminum tops, whereas "steel"; or "tin" generally refer to steel cans coated with tin.

Bulky Waste - Large items of solid waste including, but not limited to; appliances, furniture, large auto parts, trees, branches or stumps which may require special handling due to their size, shape or weight.

Commingled - Recyclable materials that are mixed together for collection. Commingled materials must be separated after collection for shipment to end users.

Commercial Establishment - Properties used primarily for commercial (sales, marketing, distribution, service) or industrial purposes.

Community Activities - Events sponsored by public or private agencies or individuals that include, but are not limited to; fairs, bazaars, socials, picnics, and organized sporting events. For purposes of Act 101, recycling is required for all such events that occur in municipalities mandated to recycle if the event is attended by more than 200 persons.

Compactor - Any power-driven mechanical equipment designed to compress waste materials. Usually attached to an enclosed rolloff container.

Compactor Truck - A large truck with an enclosed body that has special hydraulic equipment for loading, compressing, and distributing waste materials within the body.

Composting - A controlled process that breaks organic matter into a stable material called humus.

Construction and Demolition Waste (C& D) - All municipal and residual waste building materials, grubbing waste, and rubble resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition operations on houses, commercial buildings and other structures and pavement.

Contaminant - Material of one type that is an impurity for another type of material. For example, metal is a contaminant in plastic recycling.

Co-product - A material generated by a manufacturing process that is consistently equivalent to the physical manufactured product if the use presents no greater harm to the environment that the use of the product.

Corrugated Cardboard - Structural paper material with an inner core shaped in rigid parallel furrows and ridges. Does not refer to linerboard or paperboard such as that use for cereal boxes.

Cost Avoidance - Money saving by not having to dispose of solid waste. Includes land tipping fees, and in some cases, hauler pickup and/or pulling charges.

Cullet - Clean, color-sorted, crushed glass that is used in glass making to speed up the melting of silica sand. The use of cullet reduces energy costs of glass manufacturing.

Disposables - Consumer products, items and packaging used once or a few times and discarded.

Disposal Container - The outside container in which solid waste is placed (usually a rolloff, compactor, lugger box or dumpster).

Disposal - The incineration, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of solid waste into or on the land or water in a manner that the solid waste or a constituent of the solid waste enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged into the waters.

Domestic or Household Hazardous Waste - Solid waste comprised of garbage and rubbish which originates in the residential private household or apartment house.

Ferrous Metals - Iron and steel products, including tin coated food and beverage cans.

Front Loader - A refuse truck that has power driven loading equipment at the front of the vehicle.

Garbage - Any solid waste derived from animal, grain, fruit or vegetable matter that is capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity to cause such nuisances as odors, gases or vectors.

Glass - Bottles or jars made of clear, green or brown glass. The following types of glass are generally not recyclable, though some may be recyclable if there are local markets: non-container glass, plate glass, automotive glass, light bulbs, blue glass, porcelain and ceramic glass.

Hauler - Any person, firm, co-partnership, association or corporation who has been licensed to collect, transport and dispose of waste for a fee. Haulers that handle only recyclable materials are not required to obtain a license.

Hazardous Waste - Any solid waste or combination of solid wastes, as defined in Act 97, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may; 1) cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in morbidity in either an individual or the total population; or 2) post a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.

Incinerator - A plant designed to reduce waste volume by combustion.

Industrial Facility - Any establishment engaged in manufacturing or processing, including, but not limited to; factories, mills, foundries, processing plants, refineries, mines and slaughterhouses.

Institutional Establishment - facilities that house or serve groups of people including, but not limited to; hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, day care centers, schools and universities.

Leachate - Liquid that passes through, and escapes from, a landfill. The liquid is created from the rainfall and liquids present in the deposited waste that percolates down through the soil and garbage carrying many toxins with it as it travels to areas surrounding the landfill.

Lead Acid Batteries - Batteries that include, but are not limited to; automotive, truck, and industrial batteries that contain lead.Leaf Waste - Leaves from trees, bushes, and other plants, garden residues, chipped shrubbery and tree trimmings, not including grass clippings.

Lugger Box - A type of disposal container that is hauled to disposal site, emptied and returned to the facility.

Magazines and Periodicals - Printed matter containing miscellaneous written pieces published ar fixed or varying intervals.

Market - An outlet for recyclable material. Can include a buy-back center, mill, intermediate handler, end user or processor of the material.

Multi-Family Housing Properties - Properties having multiple dwelling units per structure. For purposes of Act 101, multi-family properties are those having four or more units per structure.

Municipal Waste - Any garbage, refuse, industrial lunchroom or other material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid or contained gaseous material, resulting from operation or residential, municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and from community activities and any sludge not meeting the definition of residual or hazardous waste in the Solid Waste Management Act from a municipal, commercial or institutional water supply treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant or air pollution control facility. The term does not include source separated recyclable materials.

Newspaper - Paper of the type commonly referred to as newsprint and distributed at fixed intervals, having printed there on news and opinions, containing advertisements and other matters of public interests.

Office Paper (Mixed Grade) - Usually includes high-grade office paper as well as envelopes, colored paper and memos. It does not include carbon paper, paper board, newsprint, glossy paper or magazines.

Office Paper (High Grade) - All white paper, bond paper and computer paper used in commercial, institutional, and municipal establishments.

Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) - A collections system where residents pay for waste management services per unit of wasted collected rather than through a flat fee, also known as variable rate pricing or unit pricing.

Pickup Charge - The fee assessed by a waste hauler to empty a front or rear-load dumpster. Usually this is a flat service fee regardless of weight or volume contained in the dumpster.

Postconsumer Materials - Materials generated by a business or consumer that have served their intended end uses and have been diverted from the municipal solid waste stream for the purpose of recycling.

Preconsumer Materials - Materials generated during any step in the production of a product and that have been recovered from or otherwise diverted from the waste stream for reuse in that same industrial process or sale to another industry for use in another industrial process. Examples include trimmings, damaged or obsolete products and production overruns. This type of material is also known as post-industrial material.

Processing - Any technology used for the purpose of reducing the volume or bulk or municipal or residual waste or any technology used to convert part or all of such waste materials for off-site reuse. Processing facilities include, but are not limited to, transfer facilities, composting facilities, resource recovery facilities and recycling facilities.

Product - A commodity that is the result of a manufacturing process. The term does not include off-specification materials; the materials may be co-products.

Public - all stakeholders who have the potential for affecting or being affected.

Pull Charge - The fee assessed by a waste hauler to pick up a rolloff, compactor or lugger box at the generator’s facility, haul it to a disposal site, empty it and replace with another container.

Rear Loader - A refuse truck that has power-driven loading equipment at the rear of the vehicle.

Recovered Materials - Includes preconsumer and postconsumer recycled items.

Recyclable Materials - Materials generated by residences and commercial, municipal and institutional establishments which are specified by a municipality and can be separated from municipal waste and returned to commerce to be reused as a resource in the development of useful products. Recyclable materials may include, but are not limited to, clear glass, colored glass, aluminum, steel and bimetal cans, high grade office paper, newsprint, corrugated cardboard, leaf waste, plastics and any other items selected by a municipality or specified in future revisions to Act 101.

Recycled Materials - Products that contain some recovered materials that might otherwise have been disposed through the waste management infrastructure.

Recycling - The collection, separation, recovery and sale or reuse of metals, glass, paper, leaf waste, plastics and other materials which would otherwise be disposed or processed as municipal waste or the mechanized separation and treatment of municipal waste (other that through combustion) and creation and recovery of reusable materials.

Recycling Coordinator - A person who plans, organizes and oversees the recycling program established in a commercial, municipal, institutional or industrial facility or in a municipal residential curbside collection program.

Refuse - All solid waste materials which are discarded as useless.

Residences - Any occupied single family dwelling. For purposes of Act 101, residences may include multi-family dwellings having up to four dwelling units per structure.

Residual Waste - Any garbage, refuse, other discarded material or other waste including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, mining and agricultural operations and any sludge from an industrial, mining or agricultural water supply treatment facility, wastewater treatment facility, or air pollution control facility, provided that it is not hazardous. The term residual waste shall not include coal refuse as defined in the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act. Residual waste shall not included treatment sludge from coal mine drainage treatment plants, or disposal which is being carried on pursuant to and in compliance with a valid permit issued pursuant to The Clean Streams Law.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act - Federal law passed in 1976 to address the waste management issues in the United States.

Resource Recovery - Processing that provides for the extraction and utilization of materials or energy from municipal waste that is generated off site, including, but not limited to, a facility that mechanically extracts materials from municipal waste, a combustion facility that converts the organic fraction of municipal waste to usable energy, and any chemical and biological process that converts municipal waste into a fuel product. The term does not include compost, methane gas extraction from a municipal waste landfill or recycling facility.

Reuse - Using a product again for its original purpose or a new purpose rather than disposing of it; for example, refilling a glass bottle.

Rolloff - A 10 to 50 cubic yard container with and open top for collection of solid waste. The container is picked up by a special truck and hauled to landfill to be emptied.

Rubbish - All non-putresible municipal waste except garbage and other decomposable matter. This category includes but is not limited to ashes, bedding, crockery and non-recyclable paper, glass and metal products.

Sanitary Landfill - A method of disposing refuse on land that is designed to minimize hazards to public health and safety. Modern landfills have impermeable liners and systems to collect leachate, the water that percolates through a landfill and may carry toxins with it.

Scavenging - The unauthorized and uncontrolled removal of material placed for collection or from a solid waste processing or disposal facility.

Separation - The process of sorting materials by their physical properties.

Sewage Treatment Residue/Sludge - Any coarse screenings, grit and dewatered or air-dried sludge from sewage treatment plants which are a municipal solid waste and require proper disposal under Act 97.

Solid Waste - Any waste, including but not limited to, municipal, residual or hazardous wastes, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material.

Source Reduction - The reduction of the quantity or toxicity of residual waste generated achieved through changes in the manufacturing process, including process modifications, feedstock substitutions, improvements in feed stock parity, shipping and packing modifications, housekeeping and management practices, increases in machinery efficiency, recycling within a process. The term does not include dewatering, compaction or waste reclamation.

Special Handling Waste - Solid waste that requires special storage, collection, transportation, processing or disposal due to the quantity of material or its unique physical, chemical or biological characteristics, including, but not limited to sewage sludge, infectious waste, chemotherapeutic waste, incinerator ash, asbestos containing waste, PCB containing waste, non-hazardous waste oil, fuel contaminated soil and waste tires.

Storage - The containment of any waste on a temporary basis in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of such waste. It shall be presumed that the containment of any waste in excess of one year constitutes disposal. This presumption can be overcome by clear and convincin evidence to the contrary.

Tipping Fee - The charge made by a disposal site operator for the privilege of disposing waste materials.

Transportation - The off-site removal of any solid waste or recyclables at any time after generation.

Transfer Station - A facility where waste materials are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation trucks for movement to disposal or processing areas.

Unit Pricing - Residents pay for waste management services per unit of waste collected rather than through a flat fee, also known as pay-as-you-throw or variable rate pricing.

Variable Rate Pricing - Residents pay for waste management services per unit of waste collected rather than through a flat fee, also known as pay-as-you-throw or unit pricing.

Virgin Materials - Natural resources and raw materials traditionally used in industrial and manufacturing
processes. Examples of virgin material include wood pulp, plastic resins derived
from the petroleum refining process, mined/processed metals, and glass produced using a silica
base.

Waste - A material whose original purpose has been completed and which is directed to a disposal or processing facility or is otherwise disposed. The term does not include source separated recyclable materials or material approved by the PA Department of Environmental Resources for beneficial use.

Waste Audit - An analysis of a company’s processes, waste stream and disposal costs used to process detailed information of the solid waste management system.

Waste Reduction - Design, manufacture, or use of a product to minimize weight of municipal waste that requires processing or disposal, including activities that minimize the weight or volume or increases durability or recyclability, and the use of products that contain as little material as possible, are capable of being reused or recycled, or have an extended useful life.

ACF - Acclerated Cleanup Plans (for Superfund sites)

BAT - Best Available Technology

BDAT - Best Demonstrated Available Technology

CAA - Clean Air Act

CAC - Citizens' Advisory Committee

CAMU - Corrective Action Management Unit (A rule intended to remove obstacles with RCRA hazardous waste cleanups.)

CERCLA - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (the legislation that empowers the federal "Superfund" program)

DEP - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

DCNR - The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

EIS - Environmental Impact Statement

EPA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EQB - The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board

HHW- Household Hazardous Waste

HSWA - The Hazardous and Solid Waste Act of 1984 (federal)

IPC(F) - Intermediate Processing Center (Facility)

LDR - Land Disposal Restriction

MRF - Materials Recovery Facility (usually applied to recycling processing facilities)

MSW - Municipal Solid Waste

NPL - National Priorities List for CERCLA/Superfund cleanups

NRC - National Recycling Coalition

NRDC - National Resources Defense Council

PAYT - Pay As You Throw (refers to a system where residents pay for waste management services per unit of waste collected rather than by a flat fee.)

Plastics Acronyms:
PET or PETE - Polyethylene Teraphthalate, used most often for soda bottles (#1 plastics)



HDPE - High Density Polyethylene, used for milk jugs, detergent containers, etc. (#2 plastics)



PVC - Vinyl or Polyvinyl Chloride, often used for cleaning product containers (#3 plastics)



LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene, used for plastic bags, lids and some containers (#4 plastics)



PP - Polypropylene, often used for yogurt and butter containers (#5 plastics)



PS - Polystyrene, used most often for food storage and food serving products (#6 plastics)


PROP - Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (formerly Public Recycling Officials of Pennsylvania)

RACT - Reasonable Available Control Technology

RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (the federal legislation to regulate hazardous waste and eliminate open dumping)

RDF - Refuse Derived Fuel

SWAC - The Pennsylvania (or other) Solid Waste Advisory Committee

TPD - Tons Per Day

TPY - Tons Per Year

UST - Underground Storage Tank (LUST - Leaking Underground Storage Tank)

VOC - Volatile Organic Compound

WIIFM - What's In It For Me

WTE - Waste-To-Energy