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Four municipalities get grants
nColumbia Borough and Earl, Mount Joy and Rapho townships receive a total of $535,000 from state for recycling programs. BY TIM MEKEEL, Business Editor
Four municipalities here have received $535,000 in state grants to develop and implement recycling programs.
The funding was announced Thursday by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Recipients here are Columbia Borough, $178,000; Earl Township, $86,527; Mount Joy Township, $20,255; and Rapho Township, $250,000.
The grants are part of $17.8 million in recycling grants given by DEP to 131 municipalities and counties statewide.
Earl, Mount Joy and Rapho townships were recently told they must have curbside recycling programs, a DEP spokeswoman said.
That's because their populations, as measured by the 2010 census, surpassed state-set thresholds for having curbside recycling.
The triggers are a municipal population of more than 10,000, or a population of 5,000 to 10,000 plus a density of more than 300 per square mile.
These thresholds were created by Act 101 of 1988, the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act.
Earl and Mount Joy townships, for instance, are buying recycling bins for residents to use, DEP's Amanda Witman said.
Earl and Rapho townships are developing leaf-waste collection programs, she added.
In addition, the three townships will use some of the state funds to pay for public education about recycling.
Columbia will use the state dollars to get new equipment for its yard-waste collection and composting program, according to Witman.
tmekeel@lnpnews.com
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