North Hills communities have been awarded more than $1.6 million to upgrade or expand their recycling programs.

The big winners in the northern suburbs include Franklin Park, McCandless and Ohio Township. Each has been offered $500,000 to help set up a joint system for automated curbside recycling and yard-waste pickup.

O'Hara will receive $43,538 for an expanded yard-waste recycling effort. The North Hills Council of Governments is in line to get $127,582 to pay for an already completed upgrade to its leaf-composting operation in North Park.

The grants to the communities and to the council were among $20 million in funding for recycling efforts announced last week by Gov. Ed Rendell.

Money for the recycling grants comes from a $2-per-ton fee on trash dumped at Pennsylvania landfills. The charge was first imposed in 1988 and has been extended through Jan. 1, 2012. It raises about $40 million each year, according to Tom Rathbun, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Municipalities can use the grants to cover planning and equipment costs for starting or improving recycling and composting projects, Mr. Rathbun said.

Plans call for Franklin Park, McCandless and Ohio Township to use the money mostly to purchase new refuse and recycling containers. The new, larger containers will have wheels to make them easier to move.

They have been designed to be picked up and emptied via a mechanical arm attached to a garbage truck.

The new containers will be part of an automated system that would allow recycling additional household materials and eliminate the need for a second worker on most refuse trucks. In most communities, the truck driver is accompanied by a "runner" who picks up and empties waste cans.

Homes in each of the three communities will have three trash containers: one for household refuse, one for yard waste and one for recyclable materials, including almost all paper products.

Similar automated systems already operate in Marshall, Pine and Cranberry.

The three communities applied for the grants about two years ago. Franklin Park's borough council has added several new members since that time.

Manager Ambrose Rocca said elected officials would study the proposal carefully before reaching a conclusion on participating.

"We are going to go slow and review all the 'pros' and 'cons' before council makes a final decision," Mr. Rocca said.

McCandless Manager Tobias Cordek estimated that it would be sometime in 2011 before an automated system could be introduced.

The new wheeled containers are likely to be larger than the ones many homeowners now use, Mr. Cordek said.

The refuse and recycling bins in McCandless will hold 65 gallons and yard waste containers will hold 95 gallons. The carts will have large wheels and a low center of gravity, making them easy to move and stable, he said.

Plans are for McCandless to get weekly, rather than monthly, yard-waste pickup under the automated system, he said.

Magazines, newspapers, corrugated cardboard and phone books will be among the recycled materials to be picked up along with glass, metal cans and plastics classified 1 through 7.

While trash haulers will have to invest in new equipment, the companies should find their operating costs decline with less labor and fewer on-the-job injuries or accidents, Mr. Cordek predicted.

The driver of the trash truck should be able to pick up, empty and replace the containers without leaving the vehicle cab. The pickup arm on the truck will have a reach of as much as 15 feet, Mr. Cordek said.

When communities seek bids next year for automated pickup, the cost to residents is not likely to change much from current rates, Mr. Cordek said. McCandless homeowners pay $17.62 per month for trash service.

Ohio Township Manager John Sullivan also saw potential for cost savings and less chance of injury for workers.

"This grant can get us off and running, but we are a long way off from implementing this system," he said. Ohio Township residents will be kept informed of the process via newsletters and mailings, he said.

O'Hara will use its state grant to pay for about half the cost of a new dump truck used in its yard-waste recycling efforts. It also will be used to pay for recycling containers for community parks,

O'Hara has what Manager Julie Jakubec calls an aggressive yard-waste recycling program. It includes spring and fall curbside collection of leaves and brush and a summer brush dropoff day.

The township has purchased a wood chipper and street vacuum cleaners for the recycling program and has dedicated about 40 percent of dump truck service to the environmental effort.

Since 1991 North Hills Council of Governments has operated a leaf-composting site near Walters Road in North Park.

Leaves collected in many member communities are dumped there and converted into compost, according to Wayne Roller, executive director of the council of governments. Franklin Park, Hampton, McCandless and Ross among the large users of the facility.

The grant will reimburse the council of governments for the costs of expanding the concrete pad onto which leaves are piled from four acres to five acres. It also will help pay for a new leaf turner.

That piece of specialized equipment, towed by front-end loader, aerates the dumped leaves and helps them to turn into compost more quickly, Mr. Roller said.

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