A Rush Township facility that accepts artificial turf waste for recycling has been ordered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to accept only rolls of waste turf that are stored at a sister facility in Grantville.

The DEP entered into the consent order and agreement with Re-Match on Nov. 9.

Also under the agreement, the DEP says that the Tamaqua facility cannot store more than 3,000 tons of the turf unless it receives local approvals for additional tonnage.

Re-Match is headquartered in Denmark, and has facilities in Grantville and Jonestown. It leases property for its third facility - known as the Tamaqua facility - in the Tidewood Industrial Park in Hometown.

Under the order, Re-Match is required to submit an updated waste handling and transportation plan to move the waste turf from the Grantville facility to the Tamaqua facility.

It is also required to clean up the waste from its Grantville facility as per DEP standards.

The order says that all rolled artificial turf stored at the Tamaqua facility must be wrapped, and that all indoor and outdoor storage of the waste must be done in compliance with DEP and local code regulations.

The Tamaqua facility will need additional approvals to accept waste turf from the Jonestown facility, and to put waste processing equipment in place.

According to the order, the DEP inspected the Tamaqua facility in August 2022 after learning that Re-Match had been accepting waste at its Tamaqua facility from Grantville. Re-Match did not have a permit to accept waste at the local facility, which is a violation of the Solid Waste Management Act. Later that month, DEP issued a notice of violation and asked Re-Match to address the issue. DEP was advised that Re-Match had ceased its relocation activities and provided a plan for the storage of the turf.

In October 2022, DEP received an application for a general permit for the processing and beneficial use of the waste turf. It was accepted on Dec. 28.

On April 19, 2023, Re-Match submitted a land development plan to Rush Township to build an additional paved outdoor storage area and obtained the necessary approvals to store up to 3,000 tons of artificial turf there. It received the necessary local approvals in June.

If Re-Match does not comply to the consent order, it faces penalties of up to $250 per day per violation.