Remember when the New York Times reported that after the Big One hits, everything in Oregon west of I-5 will be "toast"? Well, the paper has done it again with a new report about our recycling conundrum.
In its May 29th issue, the Times reports that a whole lot of what we as garbage company customers think we are recycling is actually going into the landfill.
Some Oregon communities are advising customers to put items like plastic, glass, and paper in the trash. Others want customers to continue to recycle on the theory that if we stop recycling now, we won't start up again when (or if) the markets for recyclables pick up.
Very few, including local companies Waste Management and Recology, seem to be educating us about what can, and cannot, now be recycled.
A recent visit to the Recology recycling depot in Mac showed the same old signs along the walls, with no information posted at all about what Recology can or cannot actually recycle. When staff at the depot have been asked about particular items, they have in the past opined that #1 plastic is always recyclable along with containers that are shaped so that the top and bottom are different sizes. A little bit of food waste in a glass or plastic container is also OK, they've said.
At the same time, staff have also said No to clamshells, even though many are #1, and the Times lists yogurt containers -- think shape -- as no longer recyclable.
Dirty containers are also unacceptable, whether the right shape or material. Waste Management's Jackie Lang is quoted in the Times as asking customers to "Keep food and liquids out" by washing out food scraps.
In Seattle, customers must sort items into several bins (remember the famous Portlandia episode with all the little tiny bins?) or face a fine. All that sorting may help prevent the kind of contamination that has caused China to reject US recyclables. And in parts of the Bay Area, customers are asked to put all items that touched food (and are not cleaned afterwards) into a "compost" bin. Here we'd call that the "trash." While that particular bin may not actually make it to compost, it may well keep other recyclables clean.
We would like to see our local waste haulers do a lot more to educate us about what and how to recycle. No one (except maybe Waste Management) wants to see more of our used items end up in the landfill. But we need to know what and how to separate to make large-scale recycling possible again.
