Oregon's Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate Dips

 The recycling rate for rigid plastic containers in Oregon dropped in 2002 to 26.2 percent, which is 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 (DEQ). The rate reflects an increase in the production of non-deposit, non-returnable water bottles, and a slight decrease in the overall recycling rate for returnable plastic bottles covered under the Oregon Bottle Bill.

Rigid plastic containers include plastic bottles, jars, cups, tubs, pails and other containers that, among other criteria, are designed to hold a product for sale. Containers for beverages and for such non-food items as detergent, automotive fluids and shampoo are included.

The 2002 recovery rate for such containers dropped from 31.1 percent in 2001 – almost a 5 percent decrease. The 26.2 percent rate for 2002 is the lowest recorded since DEQ began calculating the rates in 1993.

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, manufacturers of such containers sold in Oregon 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. Spendelow adds that he expects the rate to remain over 25 percent in 2004, but notes that the rate could dip under 25 percent by 2005 or 2006, following existing solid waste trends.

The sharp decline in the rigid plastic container recovery rate for 2002 can be attributed to three main factors, according to Spendelow.

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 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.

DEQ compiles the rigid plastic container rates through information provided by recycling and waste disposal facilities in Oregon. Information is also gleaned from DEQ’s annual material recovery survey, waste composition data and disposal data from Oregon landfills, incinerators and waste exporters. It takes about a year to compile all the information for each recently-ended calendar year.

DEQ’s Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate Report is available on DEQ’s Web site at http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rpc2004.html or by calling William Alsdorf, DEQ Land Quality Division, Portland, at (503) 229-5913 or toll-free in Oregon at 1(800) 452-4011, ext. 5913.