Franklin Township plans to start cracking down on those who are improperly discarding their recyclables.

The township’s recycling bins are being contaminated, according to township board of supervisors Chairman Jason Frey.

“Mainly the garbage bags, they just throw the whole bag in the bin,” Frey said. “They have to open it up and throw everything in loose.”

Frey added, “We’ve also had people who are throwing the stuff in on the top, but they don’t close the lid, everything blows around.

We have a camera system we can go back and look. If we think that it’s considered littering, we’re going to turn it over to the police department and fine them.”

Frey said the recycling bins are to be used by township residents only.

“They got to be a little bit more cautious about what they do and make sure they’re doing it right,” he said. “Because we don’t want to lose it.”

At present, Frey said it costs the township $9,000 a year per its contract with its recycling hauler, Waste Management.

But, he said the township was charged an extra $2,000 last month “because the bins were contaminated.”

“People were just throwing bags up on top too, a couple people threw them at the bottom too,” he said. “Lawn clippings, we don’t take lawn clippings.”

Frey said residents can drop their non recyclables in a garbage dumpster behind the township garage.

“We’ve had a lot of people come in and complain too that the bins are full, and not from the township,” he said. “It’s for Franklin Township only; we have people coming down from Penn Forest.”

Frey said that when residents empty the bags, they should just tear open the bag and reuse it again to haul their recyclables the next time.

“We’re going to start cracking down, because we don’t want to lose it,” he said. “So people fully understand that you just can’t throw the bags in there.”