it's not easy being green

Recycling 101
Oregon's New Recycling Framework

Since the pandemic, Oregon’s recycling recovery rate has declined, even as our consumption and the waste that it generates continue to grow.Senate Bill 582, the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, was passed to address these challenges. It took effect in July and represents the most significant update to our recycling systems since the Bottle Bill.But public communications designed to reach millions of residents across the region often lead to oversimplified messaging. The result? Gaps in our understanding of how the system works, confusion with compliance, and a sense that recycling is harder than it needs to be.This is why local guidance matters- so we can see how the pieces fit together, participate with confidence, and understand what this shift truly means for our community.

So let’s get started...

Senate Bill 582

Oregon's Recycling Modernization Act
Effective July '25

The Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act was created to bring Oregon’s recycling system into a new era, one that is more equitable, efficient, and resilient. Its core idea is simple: the costs and responsibilities of recycling should be shared more fairly between producers, government, and consumers.Under the new law, producers and companies that use or manufacture packaging must now contribute financially to the management and improvement of Oregon's recycling system. To participate, they must join Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs), which fund facility upgrades, strengthen data reporting, and support clearer, more consistent consumer education.

How it works

To understand how the new system functions, it helps to know how Oregon categorizes its properties. Buildings are classified for recycling and garbage service as industrial,commercial/business, single-family, or multi-family. Haulers use these classifications to determine service levels and to report contamination and tonnage data to Metro.

what metro does (and doesn't do)

Metro, our regional government for Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, plays a key role in shaping and regulating the system. Metro:

Metro does not sort co-mingled recycling. That work happens elsewhere.

who sorts the recycling?

Sorting is performed by privately operated material recovery facilities (MRFs) that Metro licenses and inspects. After collection, haulers deliver recycling to these facilities, where workers and automated machinery separate paper, cardboard, plastics, metals, and contaminants.This is where our individual choices matter. Items such as:

...slow the sorting lines, damage equipment, reduce material quality, and raise overall system costs. If a load is too contaminated, a facility may downgrade it (reducing its value), pull extra labor to clean it up, or reject it entirely- sending it to the landfill.Rejection thresholds vary by facility and market conditions, but the principle remains the same: cleaner hauls lead to improved material recovery.

our role in the system

Our choices before the bin matter too. What we buy, how it is packaged, whether it’s reusable, and how much waste it creates are all variables we can influence.Oregon provides the opportunity to recycle. It’s up to us to make those opportunities count.

every story has two sides

Senate Bill 582 was designed to strengthen the state’s recycling system and shift a portion of its cost away from cities and consumers to the companies that create and use packaging.But well-intended upgrades can have unintended impacts.A recent article in the Portland Business Journal reports that wineries are feeling an unexpected financial strain as the Recycling Modernization Act rolls out, raising important questions about equity, transparency, and local representation.

Let's take a closer look 🔎

A Closer Look

A recent Portland Business Journal article,

"Wine Industry Winces as Fees Pile Up" (Vol. 41, No. 32), offers a valuable glimpse into how Oregon's new recycling law is landing for producers.

The picture is more complicated than the bill's promise.

unpacking SB 582

Oregon's recycling system has long relied on municipalities and consumers to carry most of the cost. SB 582 aims to rebalance responsibility by requiring producers, companies that make or use packaging, to fund roughly one-third to one-half of statewide recycling system costs.

The intention is sound.
The implementation raises important questions.

How the New System Works

DEQ - The Umpire

The Department of Environmental Quality sets the rules, oversees compliance, and reviews the annual program plan and fee-setting methodology.

CAA - The Team Manager

The Circular Action Alliance (CAA)is the producer-led non-profit chosen by DEQ to develop Oregon's system plan and assign fees. CAA is the only Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) approved to implement paper-and-packaging laws in the U.S., curently operating in:

Haulers & Recyclers - The People on the Field

Independent businesses handle collection, transport, and sorting.

Producers - The People Up at Bat (and Paying for the League)

Producers pay fees based on the packaging they sell into Oregon.

who runs CAA?

CAA was founded in 2022 and is led by major national and multinational corporations.

No Oregon producers serve on its board or in leadership roles.

How Fees Are Set

Producers are charged based on three main factors.1. Material-Specific Base Rate
Glass, plastic, paper, and ,etal each carry a fee proportional to what CAA estimates it costs to manage that material.

2. Eco-Modulation
Fees adjust depending on:

3. Tonnage Reporting
Producers report the total weight of materials sold into Oregon. CAA submits its fee schedule to DEQ each June; payments are due in July.

Transparency
DEQ reviews the methodology, but the detailed calculations behind fee-setting are proprietary to CAA

Why Oregon Businesses Are Concerned

1. Glass Dependency
Oregon's wineries, olive oil makers, craft food companies, and skincare producers rely on heavier glass, which drives up fees.

2. Weight-Based, Not Revenue-Based
A small winery using high-quality bottles may pay more than a large national brand using lightweight plastic, even if the latter earns exponentially more revenue.

3. No Accounting for Historical Waste
Current producers are effectively subsidizing decades of packaging waste created by large national brands.

4. Limited Visibility Into Compliance
CAA publishes a list of registered companies, not those required to register. DEQ receives the non-compliance list privately, leaving the public unable to compare "who must participate" versus "who actually is."

5. Corporate-Dominated Governance
The organization designing fees is led by the corporations whose packaging dominates the waste stream. Local producers have no representation and no formal mechanism to influence decisions.

Questions This Raises

Why This Matters

Oregon's producers sustain our local economy and shape our identity. A recycling system that unintentionally disadvantages them risks eroding the character we aim to preserve.Understanding SB 582 is the first step toward advocating for a system that is fair, transparent, and genuinely modernized.

You Can Make a Difference

1. Ask the Right Questions
Email or call the DEQ. With a single, precise question, you can create a record, prompt an internal review, or highlight a gap.Sample Questions:

Asking questions creates pressure.
Pressure moves systems.

2. Support Local Producers
Wineries, olive oil makers, craft food creators, and small-batch skincare formulators are carrying disproportionate weight. Talk with them. Ask how this affects them. Let them know you're paying attention.

3. Contact Your State Legislators
A thoughtful, respectful message can have an impact.Focus on:

Begin with:
"I support modernizing recycling. I want it implemented in a way that protects Oregon's local producers."Relevant Committees:

4. Talk About it Within Your Community
A single condo community of 100+ residents asking questions or submitting comments can influence policy direction. Agencies respond to clusters of engaged, informed individuals.Oregon's new system will only work if the people who use it, fund it, and live with its consequences have a voice in its evolution.

Recycling might seem a minor issue compared to Oregon’s larger crises - job losses rifling through key industries, a homelessness emergency stretching every system to its limit, families squeezed by rising costs from groceries to rent - but policy failures rarely stay in their lane. When fees are set without transparency, when governance is ceded to corporations with no local accountability, and when small Oregon businesses are asked to shoulder disproportionate costs, the ripple effects land on communities already under strain. SB 582 could help modernize a fractured system, but only if Oregonians insist that modernization also means equity. A Producer Responsibility Organization, PRO, should not become another structure that pushes local businesses to the brink, while national brands glide along barely touched.

🦉 🐍 🐈 🦦 🦊 🦢 🐝

rome had emporers. we have PRO's- proof that every era has its absurdities.

Here's mine: 🪰