By John Tredrea, Special Writer
Pennington Borough will try a pilot program that, if successful, could lead to a permanent program that could save the borough a significant amount of money on solid waste tipping fees while accomplishing the environmentally friendly goal of keeping a great many plastic garbage bags out of landfills.
Trying this tactic was the idea of Rick Smith, the borough’s Department of Public Works superintendent, who recently replaced Jeff Wittkop in that post.
Jim Davy, Borough Council’s liaison to public works, said at Monday night’s council meeting that Mr. Smith’s idea has been endorsed by borough Administrator Eileen Heinzel.
"Yard waste would be put into biodegradable bags instead of plastic bags," Mr. Davy said. "The tipping fees for this material in the biodegradable bags would be $30 a ton. If the material is in plastic bags, it’s $110 a ton."
A tipping fee is what is paid to dispose of waste at a landfill.
In the pilot program, the borough would supply each household with five biodegradable bags the borough would buy for a total cost of $3,045. No borough tax revenue would be used for this purchase. The money would come from an $18,000 recycling tonnage grant the borough received from the state.
Of the pilot program, Mr. Davy said: "We want to see if this can work" on a permanent basis.
Councilman Glenn Griffiths was all for it.
"I think it’s a great idea," he said.
The council voted unanimously to use the grant money to buy the biodegradable bags.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, the council voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that prohibits parking on sections of Academy Avenue, Lanning Avenue and Burd Street that are near intersections. The intent is to improve sight lines at those intersections.
If the ordinance is adopted at a subsequent council meeting, the parking prohibitions will become effective when signs have been posted.
