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In 2012, Maryland passed a law requiring that all apartment and condominium communities with 10 or more units provide a recycling program for residents on or before October 1, 2014.

Property owners are responsible for contracting necessary services to provide for collection, storage, and delivery of recyclables to market. At a minimum, a program to collect metal containers, plastic containers, glass containers, and paper must be offered. Details on recycling activities must be reported to the County on an annual basis, beginning with calendar year 2014.

For more information on the House Bill, please visit Maryland General Assembly.

Property Owner's Role

Apartment and condominium officials are responsible for:

Providing recycling service to the residents of each building.
Securing and managing contracts for providing material collection/recycling service for all building locations.
Providing clearly marked collection bins for recyclable materials and containers for transporting the materials off site. (May be provided by the contracted recycling hauler.)
Submitting an annual report to the County outlining recycling services provided to the tenants.

Getting Started

Set Up the Service. Property owners/managers will need to arrange a recycling contract with a waste hauler. By doing so, it may be possible to decrease the frequency of trash collection or size of dumpster, since a great deal of typical household waste is recyclable.

Place Collection Containers. Property owners/managers will need to determine what size and/or how many recycling containers are needed and where they will go on site. Remember, it may be possible to downsize waste collection containers once recycling begins.

Educate Tenants. To ensure success, residents will need to know what is recyclable. Our Waste Wizard is very helpful in determining what goes where in Charles County. We offer informational fliers and have a limited number of recycling bins available for owners/managers to distribute to interested tenants. For more information, please contact the Division Office at 301-932-3599.

Annual Report

Property owners/managers are responsible for submitting the Annual Recycling Report Form. A letter and form will be mailed to the property information on file at the beginning of each year. Reports must be submitted by April 1. Failure to submit the Annual Reporting Form may result in fines up to $50 per day for noncompliance, per Section 9-1711 of the Environmental Article, Annotated Code of Maryland. The form may be completed and submitted online. You may also mail or email the completed form.

Email: RomeroM@CharlesCountyMD.gov

Mail:

Charles County Government

Environmental Resources Division

Attn: Meg Romero

1001 Radio Station Road

La Plata, MD 20646

A Recycling Information Hotline is available at 301-932-5656.