The 3.7 percent increase in actual material recovery is attributed to a variety of trends that include more recycling of reusable material and improved waste recovery programs in communities throughout the state.
“There are many factors at work here to give us the 46.8 percent rate, which is the highest level ever,” Mary Sue Gilliland, manager of DEQ’s Solid Waste Program, says. “The bottom line is that recycling is working. Efforts put into waste recovery by local governments are paying off significantly.”
The recovery rates include materials collected for recycling or composting, as well as some material burned for energy recovery. Materials recovered include paper, organics (wood waste, yard debris and food waste), metals, plastics, glass, used tires and used motor oil.
Notable trends are:
- An increase in material recycling of roughly 12 percent was spurred in part by more curbside recycling programs statewide, the move to commingle recyclable items at the curb and the identification of more processors and end markets for recyclable materials.
- A broadening of the waste recovery rate calculation in the new statewide waste prevention and recovery legislation (House Bill 3744) passed by the Legislature in 2001. The change allows the state to incorporate waste reduction credits from county wasteshed backyard residential composting and reuse programs initiated by those local governments in the statewide recovery calculation. It also allowed Marion County to include recyclable materials burned for energy in its waste recovery rate. These changes contributed to 4.2 percent of the statewide waste recovery increase.
- A decline of roughly 6 percent in the amount of materials going to landfills, reflecting a growing effectiveness of county and local programs that encourage waste prevention and product recycling. For example, more communities are offering yard debris collection/recycling programs and are promoting residential backyard composting.
- A weakened economy, which likely encouraged people to reuse existing goods rather than dispose of them.
- A slight increase in per capita waste generation. Despite Oregonians’ increased generation of waste, more of that waste is being recycled or recovered.
In 2001, each Oregonian generated 2,676 pounds of waste, an increase of 1.2 percent from the 2,645 pounds in 2000. The previous saw a slight decrease in the amount of per capita waste generated. DEQ believes the 2001 increase is caused in part by improved data collection.
Per capita disposal decreased. In 2001, each Oregonian disposed of 1,521 pounds of waste, down 5.9 percent from the 1,617 pounds per capita in 2000. Overall disposal declined from 2.78 million tons in 2000 to 2.64 million tons in 2001. This was the second year in a row in which tonnage disposal levels declined.
The total amount of recovered material collected in 2001 was 2,004,024 tons, or 1,154 pounds per person. That represents a 12.3 percent per capita increase from the 1,765,813 tons (1,028 pounds per capita) in 2000.
At the county level, total waste recovery rates ranged from a high of 55.7 percent in Marion County to a low of 11.2 percent in Lake County. The Portland metro area (Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties are calculated as one wasteshed) reported a 54.9 percent total waste recovery rate, up from 2000’s 51 percent rate. All counties met their required waste recovery rates with the exception of Hood River and Wasco counties. Oregon law states that Oregon should meet a statewide waste recovery rate of 45 percent for the calendar year 2005. New wasteshed goals, to be effective in 2005, were spelled out in House Bill 3744.
Of all the materials recovered in 2001, organics (mainly wood waste and yard debris) made up 40.9 percent, followed by paper (33.9 percent), metals (13.4 percent), glass (4.7 percent) and plastics (1.3 percent). Other assorted waste recovered (including such items as tires, paint and motor oil) totaled 5.8 percent.
Recycling rate data for the entire state of Oregon will be available on the DEQ Web page at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rsw.htm later this week. A report about the 2001 recovery rates will be available to the public via the DEQ Web site in early January.
For more information about the 2001 DEQ survey results, contact Gilliland at (503) 229-5808, or dial toll-free within Oregon at 1-800-452-4011, ext. 5808.