Municipal Recycling

In 2003, recycling and waste disposal in Oregon reached record levels, according to figures released by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in its 12th annual survey of garbage haulers and private recycling and composting companies.

Oregon’s solid waste generation continues to rise, reaching a high of 4.95 million tons, or 2,800 pounds per Oregonian per year. Waste recovery and recycling efforts softened the environmental impact of increased waste generation by diverting 2.16 million tons of material to productive end uses, according to the DEQ. This recovery level of 1,220 pounds per person represents a new high for Oregon. After credits for reuse and backyard composting, Oregon’s official waste recovery rate stands at a record 47.3 percent, topping 2002’s 46.5 percent rate, the DEQ reports.

Most significant in the increased recovery rate was the increase of more than 53,000 tons in paper recycling. This reflects the improved strength of secondary fiber markets and the growing number of mixed paper collection programs. Though much of that increase was reported as newspaper recovery, evidence indicates that more mixed paper is finding its way to newsprint mills, rather than a dramatic increase in actual newspaper recovery, the DEQ reports. "Northwest newsprint mills have adapted along with the marketplace by increasing their ability to accept mixed paper while still making a high-quality product," Jay Donnaway, coordinator of the DEQ’s materials recovery survey, says.

Although statewide waste recovery now surpasses Oregon’s 45 percent goal for 2005, it will be difficult for the state to meet the Oregon Legislature’s mandate of no increase in per-capita waste generation in 2005, Donnaway says.

Waste generation is a measure of total discards (recovery and disposal) from households and businesses. In amassing their record 2,800 pounds of waste generation per person, Oregonians discarded 2.75 percent more materials (an extra 74 pounds) in 2003 than in 2002.

Further DEQ data is available at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/swrd.html.

Delaware’s Recycling Public Advisory Council met in early January to work on a bill creating a mandatory statewide recycling program.

The council sought final approval on documents that contained recommendations for implementing the recycling program prior to submitting them to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and members of the General Assembly. The documents forwarded include a Final Summary Report describing the program, a Public Comment Response Document listing the issues raised by the public and the council’s responses and draft legislation.

According to news reports, council members hope the proposed curbside recycling program will increase the recycling rate in Delaware to 30 percent by 2008.

If the bill becomes law, residents would be required to collect cans, plastic and paper for recycling and the state would ban yard waste from landfills. The single-stream program would exclude glass because of concerns that it would contaminate the other materials if broken.