Bensalem, PA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Bensalem Township Code Section 107-8.2(e) puts the dumpster duty on owners or landlords of multifamily residential buildings where individual unit collection does not happen: they must arrange, through a municipal waste collector, suitable containers or dumpsters for recyclable materials, place them at easily accessible locations, and give occupants written instructions on how to use them. A landlord who meets those terms is not liable for a tenant's own failure to separate materials. Section 107-8.2(f) applies the same duty to owners and landlords of institutional, commercial, business and industrial establishments, unless the property already qualifies for the Section 107-8.1(e) exemption by filing annual written documentation of materials recycled, or unless the lease assigns the duty to the tenant in writing.

Zoning adds a design layer on top of the collection duty. Section 232-413.6.1.6(a), part of the mixed use district's design standards, requires walls that screen dumpster areas, built as three-sided masonry or wood enclosures matching the district's architecture. In the separate PCD-UD Planned Commerce Park Unified Development District, Section 232-493 Development Standards bar any trash enclosure from a front yard setback area or from within 150 linear feet of a principal structure used as a single-family dwelling. Violations of the Chapter 107 dumpster duty run through the same warning-and-fine structure as the rest of the recycling article.