Oregon Plastic Container Rates Shows Slight Dip

The state of Oregon reported the recycling rate for rigid plastic container in 2003 declined slightly, although the rate still topped the state’s mandated goal of 25 percent.

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality attributed the drop to the increased production of non-deposit water bottles and the slight decrease in recycling of returnable plastic beverage containers

The recycling rate for rigid plastic containers in Oregon climbed slightly in 2003 to 27 percent, but is still barely above a state mandate to meet a 25 percent annual recovery rate, according to a report recently issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The recycling rate was 26.2 percent in 2002. The rates for 2002 and 2003 are the two lowest rates recorded since DEQ began calculating rates in 1993. Rates in previous years had generally ranged between 28 percent and 31 percent.

As part of the 1991 Oregon Recycling Act, the Oregon Legislature passed a law setting a 25 percent recovery rate mandate on these containers to help reduce the amount of plastic going into landfills. The law encourages container manufacturers to recycle the plastic used to produce the containers. Passage of the law helped lead to the establishment of many plastic bottle collection programs throughout Oregon. According to the law, any rigid plastic container sold in Oregon must meet at least one of the following three criteria:

    * Contain at least 25 percent recycled content

    * Be made of plastic that is recycled in Oregon at a rate of at least 25 percent

    * Be reusable (reusable for at least five times)

If the statewide recovery rate for rigid plastic containers dips below 25 percent in any one calendar year, the container manufacturers may be required to use recycled plastic to make their containers or change to make their containers out of types of plastic that are more easily recycled in Oregon, says Peter Spendelow, DEQ solid waste specialist.

The comparatively low rigid plastic container recycling rate for 2002 and 2003 can be attributed to three main factors, Spendelow says.

First, it appears that the greatest increase in production of plastic containers in the state is happening in container types that show relatively low recycling in Oregon, such as non-deposit water bottles.

Secondly, there appears to be a slight decline in the recycling rate for plastic beverage containers that can be recycled under the Oregon Bottle Bill. The recycling rate of these containers, while still very high, has experienced a downward trend in recent years, says Spendelow.

A third factor in the declining recovery rate for rigid plastic containers involves the commingling of recyclable materials and the processing of these materials at recycling facilities. When plastic bottles are mixed with paper and other recyclables in curbside collections and then collected in compacting recycling trucks, the bottles become flattened. They are not easily separated by the processing equipment used by recycling facilities. An increasing number of the plastic bottles mistakenly end up either remaining in paper going to paper mills (where the bottles are eventually disposed of as a contaminant) or end up as sorting residue that is disposed of at the recycling facility, says Spendelow.