DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council is scheduled to meet on June 16 to hear presentations on Keep PA Beautiful’s Litter Study and on food waste recycling.
Keep PA Beautiful President Shannon Reiter will provide an overview of the KPB, DEP and PennDOT initiative to reduce littering and the results of a study of litter released in November of last year that found over 500 million pieces of litter along Pennsylvania’s roadsides.
The most common items are cigarette butts and plastics, such as plastic food packaging, bottles, and bags. Motorists and pedestrians are leading litterers, followed by improperly secured truck loads.
Follow-up work by KPB and the agencies found PennDOT spends nearly $14 million on litter cleanup a year and a survey of just nine cities in Pennsylvania found they spend more than $68 million a year on litter and illegal dumping cleanup, education, enforcement and prevention.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an impact on littering. As more citizens look to trails and parks for relief from the stress and concern brought on by the virus, there was an unfortunate increase in littering.
The annual Pick Up Pennsylvania volunteer effort held each spring to pick up road and streamside litter was also postponed until September due to COVID-19 concerns.
Larry Holley of DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management will give a presentation on food waste recycling.
In May, DEP awarded more than $9.6 million to support 145 local food waste reduction projects across the state funded by the Act 101 Recycling Program.
Public Comment
Individuals interested in providing public comments during the meeting must sign up prior to the start of the meeting by contacting Keith Salador by sending email to: ksalador@pa.gov or call 717-787-8171.
The meeting will start at 12:30. Instructions for joining the meeting are posted on the Council webpage and on the agenda.
For more information and available handouts, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council webpage. Questions should be directed to Keith Salador, Executive Director, by calling 717-787-8171 or sending email to: ksalador@pa.gov.
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[Posted: June 13, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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