Recycling in Media
Media Borough recycles weekly. The west side of the Borough (everyone west of Jackson Street) is collected on Tuesdays. The east side of the Borough (everyone east of Jackson Street) is collected on Thursdays. If collection falls on New Year's Day, Independence Day or Christmas, the Recycling will be collected the following day.

All Media businesses are required to recycle and must arrange for their own recycling pickup.

What to Recycle
--Glass bottles and jars (clear, green and brown)

--Metal food and beverage cans (aluminum and steel-soda, beer, pet food, soup, coffee cans, etc.)

--Plastic bottles #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE) (soda, milk, water, laundry detergent etc.)-NO CAPS PLEASE

--Paper (newspaper, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, soft cover books, old telephone books, Kraft paper bags, food boxes and office paper)

--Cardboard (corrugated and non-corrugated)-NO WAX COATED PLEASE

***DO NOT RECYCLE: Bagging material, Mirrors, window or auto glass, light bulbs, ceramics, plastics #3-#7 or with no # at all, oil or antifreeze containers, plastic bags, coat hangers paint cans, 5 gallon pails, hard cover books or any household item (such as toasters, cooking pots or pans, etc.)***

Where to Recycle
Please place 20 gallon recycling container at your curbside. If you did not receive a recycling container or need an additional one, call Media Borough. If you miss a curbside collection, you can also take recyclables to the Media Borough Recycling Drop-off Center, which is located at the Municipal Garage off of Brooke Street

How to Recycle
Recyclables may be commingled in the recycling container.
--Glass containers-remove lids and caps. Labels are okay. Rinse and place in recycling container.
--Metal containers-rinse and drain. Place in recycling container.
--Plastic containers-remove lids. Labels are okay. Rinse, place in recycling container. Flatten to save space.

Recycling FAQs
Q: Why do I not sort my recyclables, and why do they go into one trash truck?
A: We do not have to sort our recycling because McCusker Ogborne, the Borough's recycling hauler, uses "single stream" recycling where all materials are put in the same truck and then sorted at the recycling station. Single stream recycling goes into one container making it is easier for residents to collect.

Q: How is single stream recycling processed?
A: Our materials are taken to the Blue Mountain Recycling facility where they are sorted by different state of the art recycling machines and sold to various industries to be made into new products. Blue Mountain is the only full service recycling facility on the East coast processing over 10,000 tons per month.

This company sells recycled materials to a variety of companies that use them to make new products. Two of the most familiar names are Anheuser Busch for aluminum cans and Kimberly Clark for recycled office paper. Glass is broken into small pieces or aggregate products and sold as cullet (small pieces of glass) for filtering systems, erosion control, custom asphalt blends, and reduced weight concrete mixes. Overall there is an increasing demand for recycled material especially from China and India. See Blue Mountains web site for more information on the end uses of the recycled materials they process www.bluemountainrecycling.com

To keep the recycling process strong it is important to continue purchasing products that are made from recycled materials. The Borough office uses recycled office paper.

Q: How successful is Media's recycling program?
A: Approximately 70% of Borough residents recycle. This is an excellent rate of recycling. In 2007 this amounted to 716 tons. Reported commercial recycling in 2007 was 1,415 tons. Residential and commercial recycling have both steadily risen in the past 5 years-residential has seen an 18% increase in that time and commercial reported recycling, 80%.

It is important that we continue to increase our recycling. Studies have shown that most households and businesses could double the recycling they now put out for collection. Recycling improves our overall environment and offers many other benefits.

Q: What are the benefits of recycling?
A: Recycling benefits our whole community in many ways. It pulls materials out of the waste stream and reuses them, thus decreasing pollution and lowering our carbon footprint. We also benefit financially; through PA DEP's 904 Municipal Recycling Program Performance Grant program the Borough is reimbursed around $18,000 per year. The more we recycle, the more we profit.

If you have questions about recycling in Media, please contact the Borough at 610-566-5210.

Click here for information on Hazardous Household Waste collection.

Click here for information on environmental issues in the Borough and the activities of the Environmental Advisory Council.