Berks County Connection Podcast
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Berks County Connection Podcast
Berks County Solid Waste Authority
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A look at the mission and initiatives of the Berks County Solid Waste Authority with their Executive Director, Jane Meeks. Hosted by Berks County Controller Joe Rudderow.
Hello, I'm County Controller Joe Ruttero here for another episode of County Connections. It's great to be back in front of the viewers and learn a little bit more about local government. And today I am joined by Jane Meeks. She is our executive director for the Solid Waste Authority for the County of Berks. Jane, welcome.
SPEAKER_00Joe, thank you very much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.
SPEAKER_02I'm excited to hear uh about the Solid Waste Authority and what you guys do. Uh and so I'm glad that you were able to join me today.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for the invite.
SPEAKER_02And uh like I tend to like to do, I try to get a little bit of history of when the department or you know, kind of came online, if you will. Uh and so uh in that spirit, Jane, um what is the what is the history of the Solid Waste Authority? When did it first kind of be part of um the county? And then I guess it became an authority. Maybe you can explain for the viewers? Great.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, it actually became um an authority in 1992. We were uh created by the county commissioners. Um I was actually an original board member back in 1992.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00Um so I've been here a while. Um and I actually was the uh City of Reading representative. Um so then when 2006, when I moved over into this role, Charlie Jones uh was the director of public works and naturally stepped into that position for me. And it's the current board member to this day.
SPEAKER_02Is that right? Yep. Okay, very good. So um it it the county created an authority. Yep. And um and so the authority is made up of um you and and Bonnie explained the maybe the the makeup of the authority. Sure.
SPEAKER_00Uh sure. Um so we have a nine-member board that I report directly to. Um and again, we have a chairman, vice chairman, uh, much like any other uh organization. So our chairman is Charlie Jones from the city of Ready. Uh last uh 2025 was his first year as chair, and he's doing a great job. Um another name that's if familiar to you is Ron Rutowski. Sure. Oh, absolutely. Is um also my board member and is our treasurer, um, and also does a great job for us. Um our vice chairman is uh Mike Gumbar.
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Um and uh from Masano Bradley, again, great guy, he's been on the board for a number of years.
SPEAKER_02So now is he a board member or is he your solicitor?
SPEAKER_00He is a board member.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um we have um Tony Sacco from FNB Bank. Sure. Tony Reimar, uh who used to be from UGI, who's now from Revert. Um so we have um Brian Clements, who I'm sure you're aware of, um or familiar with, Don Mole, um, who used to have B and Glass. So we have a lot of different um people coming in to help us. Uh Chuck Mowbray worked for First Energy uh most of his life. Um Jane Witheridge, uh who is a fairly new member, was appointed last year, uh, who worked for waste management um most of her career. So you're surrounded by the experts, right? We are surrounded by um some great individuals um who really get involved um in our mission and are a huge asset to me.
SPEAKER_02So who who do you do you have a solicitor then?
SPEAKER_00So and our solicitor is Sok Georgiatis.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So again, um probably didn't mention some of the things.
SPEAKER_02That's good. Someone's a board member. Yeah, right. That's that's good. Uh you can never get enough of the right legal advice, right? So I'm sure that the board itself is happy to to have uh all those other members on it with them because I it sounds like there's a wealth of knowledge, nice cross-section, right? There is. Um and and I I I bet that really helps uh you, uh, although you have the experience of being an original board member, but I'm sure uh they can offer a lot of insight to the challenges that come before you, and I'm sure from time to time there's some challenges, right?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and they are, like I said, they're they're great individuals, they're always there to um to answer the phone, to bounce some things off of, um, which is a lot of a lot of help, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Good. Now, um, so that's the board that you're that you report to, that's the board that, and I'm sure we'll get into a little bit more on how they interact with you. Um uh do you have uh anyone else in the office with you?
SPEAKER_00I am a staff of one in the office. So I always say to people, they're like, Well, what's your name? If I'm gonna call back, I'm like, you're gonna get me. Or no one. Um so it's just myself in the office. Um, and then we have two individuals that operate our recycling center for us. Okay. One full-time and one part-time employee.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So again, a very small, small staff.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Very, very good. Has that always been the case? Is that since the beginning? It's been a very small, small department. Prior to um the county and the authority, correct.
SPEAKER_00Prior to 2008, uh, which is when the county and the authority entered into an agreement to take over the county recycling programs for them, um, the county staffed um the center with um like one and a half people again. So it was a little bit different. In 2008, um we entered into we the authority entered into an agreement with the county, and they pay us yearly to operate their recycling for them, which includes not only the recycling center uh our special events, whether it's hazardous waste, electronics, which is full-time, paper shredding, but we also work daily with our 73 municipalities. So that's kind of a big role as well, is to make sure that our municipalities are in compliance with Act 101. So if they're a mandated community uh making sure that they're meeting those requirements for recycling.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say what you said Act 101, it takes me back to my days in Maiden Creek when that first came on. Uh I was uh 1988. Yep. And and then of course I think there was y you had to reach a certain threshold before it was mandatory that the county was. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's still like under 5,000, you have to have a population of 300 people per square mile, and then it's 5,000 to 10,000, which would put the maiden creeks of the world in in question.
SPEAKER_02And that that's about when I can I was uh served on that board starting in 2008. Okay. So and and you know, a lot of that population was, you know, uh Main Creek was growing back in the the 90s, early 2000s. So and I do remember us talking about Act uh 101 uh and um and everything. So that's why I don't know if there were some revisions to it or something, but I remember we we discussed that uh at length um to make sure that we were, I think, in compliance. Maybe that's because you you had reached out and said, Probably.
SPEAKER_00But by the way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, by the way.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, we ran into um a similar situation where um Maxitay Township um with their population, because again, they became a mandated community, big farm population, um which means you can't burn. So um, you know, so we ran into a lot of burning issues uh in Maxitawney Township, and really it was the population of Cootstown University that put them over the threshold. So and since then they have uh which burn township ran into something very similar with the population of the jail.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I thought you were gonna say Penn State Burks or Burke. Right. No, that's in Spring Towns.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but that this was the jail.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um where again Burn Township, you know, is not receiving tax dollars for that and now getting put into a mandated community situation. So um there have been some m amendments to Act 101 dealing with population.
SPEAKER_02Now, as far as the Solid Waste Authority and like like a municipal authority, uh uh wastewater and municipal authority, they're they're different, right?
SPEAKER_00They are different. We are just solid waste, so our mission really is to um make sure we're in compliance again with Act 101. Uh counties have responsibility for waste planning. Uh prior to 1990 or 88, with the enactment of that law, um municipalities were responsible for waste planning. Under Act 101, it put that responsibility on the county.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um so every county is required to plan for their waste. Um and I guess the one thing we talked about was, you know, the county solid waste plan. Yeah. And you said, like, what's that? Um, you know, what is this document? Um that's your Bible. It's our Bible. It gets changed every 10 years.
SPEAKER_02Um, so is it it's similar to a comprehensive plan, I guess, at the municipal level in the sense.
SPEAKER_00Yep, but it's just make basically telling the state where our waste is going to go, which is obviously critical, not so much in Berks County because of the number of landfills uh that we have in Berks County, but back in the day when there was a we a perceived waste shortage, um that was that was important.
SPEAKER_02So in terms of, you know, obviously I think most people would understand that their local municipal authority provides them water and sewage. And I think we can all kind of get our arms uh heads around that and understand exactly what that is. When we get the solid waste without, and I'm sure there's a really long list, but just give help share with the viewers a couple things that you know that people maybe they don't think it would be something that you guys would be dealing with in solid waste. So trash, I assume?
SPEAKER_00So so as far as trash is concerned, again, it's done on a municipal level.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, or it's private subscription. So really our role for the county in collection is assisting those municipalities with contracts. So helping them to develop their RFPs, uh, getting the best quotes that they can prop possibly get, um, and making sure, again, that their trash recycling yard waste is being properly uh collected and also disposed of. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_02So you're a resource to the municipalities, and you're not really necessarily we don't have any. You're not dictating per se you're more, hey, we're here to help. Correct. But if there were if somebody wasn't in compliance, would it be the state that notifies you or somebody, or how does that be in compliant in violation of Act 101, which the State would get involved in.
SPEAKER_00So my role really is not enforcement is not to help avoid that. Exactly. It's to try to be their friend. Right. Um we do a lot with grants. We get millions of dollars a year from the state for recycling programs. Um so again, that's a big thing that I do is I'll work with uh the Spring Townships or Maiden Creeks of the world to um what yard waste equipment do you need? You're required to collect and process yard waste. Right. What can we do to make that cost effective for you? Um so that's really my role. If they're not in compliance, my role also before DEP figures it out is to get them into compliance. Right. Um, so that they're not losing their funding.
SPEAKER_02So when they see you coming, they should be with open arms.
SPEAKER_00They typically don't close the door. Right, right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So not that they don't, but they don't typically that's following you, maybe closed we're not here today, right? Um so all right, so you said yard waste. So that's that's and obviously I'm thinking as you're talking, I'm thinking, how does that relate to me as a homeowner? And yes, you know, like in Maiden Creek, they have a drop-off that um we can bring our yard waste, limbs, and that stuff, and we take it, and then uh there's a spot at the township and we can drop it off as a resident. Yep.
SPEAKER_00And then they they process that or they hire hire a vendor to come in and either process it. In Maiden Creek, Dave Zawicki is right there, so they'll be processing that for them. We have 29 uh recycling drop-off centers in Berks County. So uh because of how rural our community is, um we don't we only have 16 mandated communities under Act 101. However, we've got a lot of little boroughs that have over the years mandated themselves. Either they've always been in the trash business, um, so they've kind of stayed there with collecting trash, doing recycling, doing yard waste. Um and some of our yard waste drop-offs, or not drop-offs, but permitted sites, are farms. So for instance, uh Burn Township, instead of them bringing that yard waste, those leaves, back to their drop-off location in Hilltop Road, and then paying a third party to process that, um, they're actually land applying it on a farm. So that farmer is tilling it in as a beneficial reuse. So good for the township, good for the farmer. Right. Um and we actually have five different locations in Berks County that are permitted for land application.
SPEAKER_02Oh, great. Yeah, that's that's uh now has that always been the case, or I mean, uh as far as kind of that mulching it back into the ground type of.
SPEAKER_00It's a it's a permitted, it's a permitted use. Um a lot of farmers and and municipalities were doing it. Um what we've done over the years is tried to get them permitted so that the state knows where these sites are, and also so that perhaps multiple municipalities can use the same site. Um we have South Heidelberg Township that has a very nice yard waste drop-off site. Um they also land apply their leaves at a farm, but they also work with Lower Heidelberg uh and Wernersville Borough that they bring their material there as to the South Heidelberg site. So um we again try to get our municipalities to play well with others. Sure. Um it helps in them getting funding uh because again, there's intermunicipal agreements, DEP likes that. Um and again, we it just makes a lot more cost.
SPEAKER_02So recycling is only a piece of the solid waste picture uh program in a sense. I mean the the I mean we all generate garbage, we all generate recyclables. Yeah. Um you know, it's now a a way of life, uh, at least in my community because we've been doing it for so long. Right. Um and and everything. And and I get it, not every community um has to to recycle, although you've said some have voluntarily decided to have their residents recycle. Um and and you know, and so but you know, that's just kind of a piece of the puzzle then, right? Because like you have, and I know that you guys put on from time to time um uh uh what would be uh I want to say household items that you're aren't shouldn't go into the trap. The hazardous waste? The hazardous waste, and and and then once again, you know, how do people know what's hazardous? Because I guess that list probably changes, right? I mean, or has it been pretty consistent?
SPEAKER_00It's pretty consistent. So um, like we always say, and if you looked at our website, what is hazardous waste? It's something that is caustic, uh flammable, um, poisonous. So it's pretty well defined, oil-based, um, so it's motor oils, gasolines, um, not latex paint. Probably one of the biggest hurdles that we deal with, right. Where people call and say, Well, I've got paint, okay? What type of paint?
SPEAKER_01They don't know.
SPEAKER_00They don't know. Okay, well, look at the can, it'll tell you. Um, latex paint, very easy to get rid of. Uh people think, oh my god, I've got this can. Um they sell a waste paint hardener that will harden two-thirds of a gallon just as quickly as you can stir it in. Kitty litter works just as well. Right, yep. Anything to absorb that moisture, once it's hardened, just out with the regular tract.
SPEAKER_02It just becomes a solid waste, it's not a liquid anymore.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. I would I I get that. And and I would imagine if if um um you know in 1992 that was a different picture because there was a lot of oil-based products back then, and that probably was more than the latex. You know, now that's since changed in the paint industry, and and you know, a lot of the VOC compliant laws that were passed um helped to make that change. Right. Where where the and and maybe that's where some maybe older folks are thinking, like, oh well, this is something I have to call to get rid of, but it you don't because it's latex paint and it's water-based. Water-based, correct. And and it just needs to really basically dry out and and you're good to go. Correct. Yep. Um, so that's that's interesting. Um what else? Um uh so we have kind of the hazardous materials.
SPEAKER_00Did we want to show the dates?
SPEAKER_02Oh, do we have to do that? Sure, sure. Uh if if we can. Um this is uh hot off the press for 2026. Uh if you look on your screen, you can see um uh the information that Jane's provided for what's gonna happen in 2026. And I don't know if you want to talk about any one of those or all of them.
SPEAKER_00Sure, that'll be great. So I think maybe we'll just talk about the spring. Um back in 2020, um, 2021, we began um registering residents. So we started the hazardous waste collections back in the 1990s. Um, and you just never know. Are you gonna have 3,000 people or are you gonna have 500? Um so the registration does two things. It gets um a nice flow of traffic, we know what to expect, so we bring enough employees with us. Uh, but more importantly, we don't have a thousand people sitting in line at seven o'clock in the morning for an event that opens an hour later because they don't want to wait in line. In the line that they're waiting for. In the line they haven't started.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00Um so it really at first people are like, why do I need to do this? But as we continue to register people, it makes perfect sense. We understand everybody wants to be there when we open at eight. It it can't happen. Um but we we still continue to push, you know, 1,300, 1,500 cars.
SPEAKER_02So when they register, do they do it online? They do. So And does that also allow that process to move quicker because they've kind of pre-registered for the event?
SPEAKER_00We're not asking them what they want, um, what they're bringing to us, yeah. But it just allows us, again, not to have literally a thousand cars sitting on a parking lot blocking traffic. Um when we used to have them uh again back in the 1990s at the first energy stadium, we had closed the bypass in both directions. Uh and the police are like, you need to to do something. I I don't know what you want me to do. We're moving cars in the room. You are doing something. Right. We're we're trying. We're not intending to stop traffic, but we are trying to do something here. Right. And even back at the Ag Center, we uh we had them in the beginning um where we had traffic back to 183. Um do we have traffic to this day back to maybe Hilltop Road? Maybe. Um, depending. But again, it really allows us to move traffic through. It allows us to know what to expect, and the resident as well. They know that they have an appointment, they're gonna be within a 10 or 15 minute window. So they're not gonna come and sit in line for an hour.
SPEAKER_02So so if somebody doesn't register, they they won't be able to come through.
SPEAKER_00We strongly encourage, again, just just to allow them to get a mulligan for the first time.
SPEAKER_02You know your name if you don't register next time.
SPEAKER_00Next time forget it. Yeah. It's really just about uh we're not trying to inconvenience anyone, we're not gonna send anybody away, but it just really allows us to operate a more efficient and safe collection site. Okay. No, no, we we also do the paper shredding. So our hazardous waste will be April 11th, our paper shredding the following Saturday, April 18th. Both of those events will be at the Governor Mifflin Intermediate School.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Uh we've been holding them there probably the last 10 years. Great site, easy flow, right off the highway. Right. Um so that really helps us to keep things moving. Um and then we also have our full-time electronic recycling that's over at Hilltop Road, and that's open three days a week, year round, uh, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 8 to noon.
SPEAKER_02And and just probably for the viewers to know, these this is all a program made available to the residents of Berks County, but it's not you you're not in a position, you're not deal you're not, or maybe you are any businesses, or no?
SPEAKER_00We don't do um unless you're a small unless you're a very small business. Right. Uh and then we have some people come in with a couple gallons of paint. Um, but we don't deal with chemicals, we don't deal with school chemistry labs, anything like that. Um pretty much hazardous waste residential collection.
SPEAKER_02So how about on the shredding like same same thing.
SPEAKER_00We it's five boxes per vehicle. Like five bankers' boxes, correct? Correct. Yep. Um from time to time we have some realtors come through, and again, we have a discussion with them. Um that, you know, this is a program that the in most cases the county or the authority is paying a vendor, but that vendor Is also giving us kind of a discount. So we're not trying to hurt the shredding companies by taking their business away from them. So we try to explain that. Electronics, we do service businesses, and we do that. We do charge the business and we do that by appointment only.
SPEAKER_02So would that be if they had uh decided to uh a business had decided to change out five or six desktop computers that they could call? Yep, that's correct. And then they would set up an appointment, and then they could bring that over, and then you guys would dispose of that properly. And and that is either someone that's a is a resident or a small business?
SPEAKER_00No, that's just small business. Residents we do without appointment, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 8 to noon. Okay. The business is because we really never know what we're gonna be getting. Uh they're also we we participate in the Covered Device Act. So the vendor that we use, which is Green Chip uh out of the Bronx, they are under contract with the Samsung Sony's of the world that are required to take this material back. So um, but again, it's it's residential and very, very small businesses that are should be using the program. So again, for the the bigger businesses, we keep them kind of out out of the program. We also do a lot of universal waste for them. So whether it's their batteries, uh fluorescent bulbs, those types of things that we see coming from businesses.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Yes. So so once again, a business in Berks County could reach out. If they had any questions, they could reach out.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Um you have a huge staff, so like right now the phone's ringing. And then they could discuss that with you, and you could you could either say, yes, that's something we can handle, or no, you're gonna need to contact their options would be to kind of get them in the right spot. So Okay, well that's that's good to go. No, now um do each of the 67 counties have a solid waste authority, or is that up to each of the counties, do you know? And and maybe you can shed a little light on that.
SPEAKER_00Yep, it's up it yeah, it is up to each individual county. Um many have um authorities, many have authorities that operate facilities. Um so Lancaster, York, um, Lebanon all have um an authority, but they also operate their own, whether it's a waste energy plant, landfills, transfer stations, so they're actually taking the waste in, charging their customers for that, and then kind of taking care of the waste. In Berks County, we obviously have a solid waste authority, which is different than many because we are home to four privately operated and owned landfills, which is unusual for a county to have um that number of landfills.
SPEAKER_02Interesting. Um well, and I guess um, you know, at some point a landfill fills up. Correct. Which creates another challenge. Uh, and I guess there's a lot of planning that probably goes into that. I is that something your board, uh you and your board look at as far as you know how much capacity any of these um landfills are in and around the county or we um obviously are looking at that daily.
SPEAKER_00Um that's really part of the county solid waste plan. So back in 2024, uh we actually started the program uh in 2021. It takes about two and a half, three years to put the county plan together. We actually looked at or are required to get disposal capacity agreements. So back in back in 2024, we believed that we were going to need 1.1 million tons of capacity over the next 10 years. Okay. So we went out, uh we looked at not only our landfills uh or waste energy plants, um, but any facility in the region that might be interested in accepting our waste. And we enter into disposal capacity agreements with them.
SPEAKER_02Do we currently accept waste from outside of the county?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Again, the county, the the authority of the county does not own any of our facilities. Right. But um, yeah, much of the waste that is coming into those disposal facilities is from out of county. Uh a good example is the Rolling Hills landfill in Earl Township. Yeah. So owned by Delaware County. Um, interesting enough, we've got a landfill located in Berks County, owned by our neighboring county.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um so basically what that facility does is they have a Delaware County has a waste energy plant. Uh they burn their trash, they bring the ash to that facility, along with municipal waste from Berks and outside. Gotcha. Um we have the Conestoga landfill, uh, which is an extremely large landfill. 90% of that waste is from either out of county or out of state.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00Um, so that waste coming from Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, um, Montgomery County, um, a lot of that waste. Uh humuda, perhaps. Um, some of the waste coming into the Conestoga landfills.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Well, um I I want to touch on a couple things because we're running out of time here, and I I'll have to have you back, of course, because I don't think we were we talked about a lot, but I don't know if we touched on as much as I was hoping to touch on. Um but you have a website, and on your website you have some resources available. Um so maybe share with the viewers what they might find on your website, how they can locate it, right? Uh and and let's let the viewers know. Start there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um so yeah, we obviously have a website like most. Um you can reach it two different ways. You can um go to the county website. We're listed under that as a department, so it's county of Burks.com. Uh our website, county of Burks.com forward slash SWA for Solid Waste Authority. Right. Um and then on there you'll find information on the hazardous waste, paper shredding, electronics. We've got a bunch of touch buttons, touch here to register. Um we also have a lot of links. So whether if you're looking for where do I recycle paper, where do I recycle um automobiles, tires, whatever it might be, we have a list of that uh that we try to keep updated.
SPEAKER_02We'll encourage the viewers to go to the website and that's uh can be found at Berkspa.gov, I believe. Okay. And and hit the Solid Waste Authority. Uh Jane, I want to thank you for your time. We are out of time, so I will definitely have you back. Uh thank you so much. And uh I think the viewers got a little bit of a better idea of what what the uh uh Solid Waste Authority does in the county of Burks.
SPEAKER_01Thank you again.
SPEAKER_02Um once again, this is your county controller Joe Ruttero. Want to thank you for joining us for this episode of County Connections. Thank you until next time.