Plastic container recycling rate slides

Recycling Today, March, 2004

The recycling rate for rigid plastic containers in Oregon dropped in 2002 to 26.2 percent, which is barely above a state mandated 25-percent annual recovery rate, according to a report issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The 26.2 percent rate for 2002 is nearly a 5 percent decrease from 2001's 31.1 percent rate and is the lowest recorded since DEQ began calculating the rates in 1993.

Peter Spendelow, DEQ solid waste specialist, says the sharp decline can be attributed to three main factors. First, production of plastic containers that show relatively low recycling in Oregon, such as non-deposit water bottles, is increasing. Secondly, the recycling rate for plastic beverage containers that can be recycled under the Oregon Bottle Bill declined slightly. A third factor in the declining recovery rate involves commingling and processing of recyclable materials. As a result, an increasing number of the plastic bottles either remain in the paper going to paper mills or become sorting residue that is disposed of at the recycling facility, Spendelow says.

DEQ's Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate Report is available on DEQ's Web site at www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/rpc2004.html or by calling William Alsdorf, DEQ Land Quality Division, Portland, at (503) 229-5913.