Bensalem, PA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Curbside start time
- 6:00 p.m. evening before collection day
- Container removal deadline
- 11:59 p.m. on collection day
- Weight limit
- 50 pounds per container or bundle
- First-offense penalty
- Written warning by certified mail
- Repeat-offense fine
- Up to $2,500 plus court costs
- Governing ordinance
- Ord. No. 2010-05, adopted 10-4-2010
Summary
Bensalem Township requires every single-family home, townhouse and row-home with individual collection to keep a separate recycling container and follow strict curbside timing. Under Bensalem Township Code Section 107-8.2(d), containers can only reach the curb starting 6:00 p.m. the evening before collection and must be removed by 11:59 p.m. on collection day, with a 50-pound weight cap on every container.
(d)All occupants of single-family homes, including townhomes and row-homes where individual municipal waste collection occurs, shall maintain a separate container of the type specified or provided by the Township or municipal waste collector to collect all designated recyclable materials in a commingled or modified commingled ... fashion, as established by the municipal waste collector, subject to the rules and regulations of the Township. No municipal waste or recyclable material container shall be placed at the curb or in the front yard of any resident's property except during the period beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the evening prior to the day of scheduled collection, and the empty container shall be removed by 11:59 p.m. on the day of scheduled collection. ... Newspapers may also be placed in paper bags (no plastic bags) or bundled and tied, both across and lengthwise, with rope or cord, and kept dry prior to collection and placed at curbside with the recycling container. No such municipal waste containers or recyclable material containers, including bundles of newspapers (other than containers supplied by municipal waste collectors), shall weigh more than 50 pounds.
Full Breakdown
Bensalem Township Code Chapter 107, Article II, the "Bensalem Township Recycling Ordinance" adopted by Ord. No. 2010-05 on October 4, 2010, mandates under Section 107-8(a) that all residents keep recyclable materials separate from solid waste and participate in the Township's municipal waste and recycling program. Section 107-8.2(d) sets the operating rules for single-family homes, townhomes and row-homes: occupants must keep a container supplied or approved by the Township or the municipal waste collector, filled with recyclables in a commingled or modified commingled fashion as the hauler directs.
The container cannot sit at the curb or in the front yard before 6:00 p.m. the evening ahead of the scheduled pickup, and the emptied container must be pulled back by 11:59 p.m. on collection day; the Township itself enforces that curbside window. Newspapers may go loose in paper bags, never plastic, or bundled and tied both ways with rope or cord and kept dry, set out with the recycling container. No container or newspaper bundle, aside from ones the hauler supplies, may weigh more than 50 pounds.
Section 107-8.3 lists what residential households must separate: clear and colored glass, newsprint, aluminum, steel and bimetallic cans, No. 1 PET and No. 2 HDPE plastics. The Municipal Waste and Recycling Committee, established by the Mayor, runs the educational program and monitors resident participation under Section 107-8(c).
Violations & Fines
Bensalem Township Code Section 107-12(a) requires a written warning by certified mail for a resident's first recycling-separation violation. A second violation within two years of that warning brings a criminal fine of up to $2,500 per violation, plus court costs, attorney's fees and possible imprisonment in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, prosecuted before a District Justice under the summary-offense rules. Section 107-12(b) caps fines for any other breach of this article at $1,000 per violation, and each additional day a violation continues counts as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time can I put my recycling container at the curb in Bensalem?
Can I bag my newspapers instead of using the recycling bin in Bensalem?
What happens the first time I don't separate my recycling in Bensalem?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bensalem
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