Metro Council voted to approve a plan that will shape the way greater Portland manages the garbage and recycling system for the next 12 years – including everything from the way products are made to how to shape jobs in the industry.

The 2030 Regional Waste Plan is the fourth such plan that Metro has crafted — a process it goes through roughly once a decade. 

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As states and others try to manage waste using more holistic paradigms, they'll need clearly documented strategies. Here's how to formulate a dynamic roadmap that will help shape an effective sustainable materials management plan.

Continue reading article from the January print edition of Resource Recycling. 

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality today announced a $553,750 settlement with Total Reclaim, Inc. The settlement resolves the state’s long-running investigation into TRI’s operations under Oregon’s E-Cycles program, a program that encourages Oregon consumers to recycle electronic devices in a safe and sustainable manner. This settlement follows resolution of a related DEQ penalty action against TRI in September, 2018 for alleged violation of the state’s hazardous waste laws.

An ongoing challenge in the food industry is keeping your food costs down without diminishing food quality. One of the keys to success is food waste prevention.

Join national experts from the food industry Dr. Steve Schein and Ned Barker to learn more about how to reduce food waste in your business, empower your employees, reduce your environmental impact, and improve your bottom line.

These interactive workshops will help you create a Strategic Roadmap for your business based on best practices from the Hotel | Kitchen website. Some pre-work will be suggested.

Lunch at Garfield Elementary School in Corvallis was unsurprisingly chaotic Friday, with dozens of kids picking up hot lunches, eating and talking.

But in the center of the room was an island of order as a small team of students and an adult volunteer helped kids sort their compostable items and trash into the appropriate bins. The composting program, which was started in 2015, has significantly reduced the amount of trash the school produces during lunch.

Solutions to preserve access and reduce contamination are emerging from municipalities, partners and citizen-led efforts in states such as Oregon, Virginia and New Hampshire.

Hardships caused by China's global recycling industry disruptions have been particularly acute in small U.S. cities and towns over the past year. But in the face of adversity, a number of them have devised solutions to keep recycling programs alive — at least to some degree.

Oregon’s bottle deposit system is recycling more containers than ever before despite major disruptions in global recycling markets.

Last year, Oregon recycled 90 percent of the beverage containers covered by its bottle deposit system. The rate has jumped from 64 percent just two years ago and the total number of bottles recycled reached an all-time high of 2 billion in 2018.

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From the CARTM Newsletter

As many of you know, CARTM lost its contract to operate the transfer station, effective December 31, with only 16 days notice. We spent those 16 days selling, then giving away all the donated merchandise before the facility closed.

McMinnville, Oregon, residents will soon be able to recycle polystyrene thanks to a partnership between Recology Western Oregon, the city’s waste hauler, and Agilyx Corp., Tigard, Oregon.

According to an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality waste generation report, Klamath County recovered 24.3 percent of the 78,171 tons of waste it generated in 2017.

The report, released in December, breaks down “recovery rates” — percentage of waste recycled — by both county and the state as a whole. Klamath County fell below Oregon’s overall 42.8 percent rate, but according to local and state waste experts, Klamath did well despite geographic and economic and barriers.