Rush Township wants to talk trash.

Supervisor Robert Leibensperger said the board has been hearing concerns from residents who say trash collectors are dumping garbage and recyclables together.

“People have been saying that they are throwing the garbage in with the recycling,” Leibensperger said.

Residents who see it happening, he said, are asked to record and send videos to the township.

Leibensperger said he recently spoke to the Department of Environmental Protection about recycling totals from the township.

“They are really irate that our recycling rates have dropped,” he said.

The department, he said, wants to know why.

“We dealt with this a few months back,” he said during the board’s August meeting.

After last month’s meeting was adjourned, several residents told the board that they had spotted trash collectors from Tamaqua Transfer & Recycling dumping their garbage and recyclables together. They said it happens frequently.

Leibensperger said if the township receives videos, they can be forwarded to the DEP.

The township receives Recycling Program Performance Grants through DEP based on the total tons recycled.

With lower rates, the township is losing out on the grants.

In an unrelated matter, the township office will be closed Sept. 2 in observance of Labor Day.

Also, due to the holiday, the Monday garbage collection will be moved to Sept. 3, and the Friday pickup will be held on Sept. 7.