Introduction:

In 1990, a group of residents of rural Hopewell Township, Cumberland County joined together to defeat the opening of a second landfill in Cumberland County. The residents decided to establish a comprehensive recycling program in that region which would eliminate the need for the second landfill. New Hope Recycling was thus born. On the first Saturday of each month, citizens of the Township, joined by students from Shippensburg University, unload three hundred vehicles full of recyclables at the Hopewell Township building. The recyclables are then driven to York Waste Disposal for recycling. In 1999, the Legal Defense Fund decided to assign a student intern to research this group to determine whether the New Hope experience can be used as a model for other groups who wish to stop the construction of new landfills by eliminating the need for them.

I. Materials Recycled by New Hope:

• Glass (clear, brown and green)
• Aluminum (cans, foil, and scrap)
• Tin and Steel Cans
• Cardboard (except for non-corrugated cardboard)
• Newspapers; Magazines
• All Paper; Plastics (#1-#9)
• Metals (brass, copper, stainless steel).

II. Facilities Used for Recycling:

Originally used church and school property. Now a permanent station has been established at the Township building lot.

III. Tons Recycled Annually:

Originally, 50-80 tons per year. Currently, 150 tons per year is recycled.

IV. Setting Up the Program:

A. State Recycling Grants enabled the New Hope recycling group to purchase a trailer and roll-off containers. Originally, a compacter was to be purchased, but due to cost and liability, those plans were never pursued.

B. Locate a Broker: New Hope uses York Waste Disposal, which was found through the phone book. Recyclables are collected at the Township building, and then driven to York.

C. Paying for Drivers: Monies paid for the recyclables pays for the drivers.

D. Monies for Supplies: Obtained from state funds and from private donations.

E. Establish Mailing List: New Hope currently uses a several thousand person mailing list, which was constructed from word of mouth and through letters that were sent to the principal organizers.

F. Timeline for Setting Up the Program: It took New Hope approximately two to three months to establish the program and begin taking recyclables to York Waste Disposal.

G. How is the Site Organized? A driveway loop has been established with the recycling trailer in the middle of the loop. Cars drive in, take the right side of the loop and park their cars on the other side of the loop. Volunteers then remove the items from the vehicles and place them in the appropriate large cardboard bins.

V. Major Problems that New Hope Has Encountered:

A. People regularly bring items that cannot be recycled - the Program then has to dispose of those items as garbage, thus incurring additional costs.

B. A compaction machine would allow the program to make money on the plastics.

VI. Contents of Monthly Letter

A. List of items to bring;
B. Financial report;
C. Items and poundage of each gathered last month (e.g. 1357 pounds of aluminum cans; 48,613 pounds glass);
D. Community News;
E. Community Events;
F. Advertise for Volunteers;
G. List of places that take recyclables that New Hope does not;
H. A Thank-you to the volunteers.

VII. Miscellaneous

New Hope Recycling has distributed information on how to stop junk mail, information on how plastics are made, sold canvas New Hope bags for grocery shopping, distributed recipes for organic cleaning solutions, information about local businesses and sales, local hazardous waste collections, Church festivals, and urging folks to contact their legislators about the importance of recycling.

VIII. Contact Information

The Main Coordinators for New Hope Recycling are:

• Helen Miller, P.O. Box 160, Newburg, Pennsylvania 17240, (717) 423-5324
• Pat Franklin, 220 Turnpike Road, Newburg, Pennsylvania 17240, (717) 423-6224
• Cecilia Jankura, vinblues@cvn.net