Recycling in Bridgeton - Research Project

Plastic clam shells, plastic bags, foam, styrofoam, rope, long stringy things, insulated packaging and clothing is garbage. Do not add to blue bins - it cannot be recycled!

I was talking to a Bridgeton neighbor about the BNA Green Team and she asked about where our recycling really goes. She wasn’t the only curious mind that wants to know if these materials just get dumped in some landfill or if any business actually uses these collected materials.  

I followed one of the recycling haulers’ trucks and it led me out to the end of NE Marx Street to Far West Recycling where I set up a tour with Vinod Singh, Outreach Manager. The company started in 1980 so they’ve had 40 years to perfect the recycling business. Vinod  shared some key information that will definitely help my household recycle more. I hope it helps yours too!

I also talked on the phone with Jeff Murray, Director of Business Development for Environmental Fibers International (EFI) who set me straight on Portland Metro garbage & recycling systems. He sits on a DEQ Steering Committee looking at what they can do with the many materials that are  not recyclable so we can push back on manufacturers using un-recyclable material. 

WHYS (Costs and methods explained):

• All Portland refuse and recycling facilities are licensed by the State and regularly inspected by Metro. They are held to increasingly higher equipment standards, asked to produce cleaner materials, and offer living wage jobs. 
• The haulers operate under a “franchise-type” system where rates are set, and reviewed annually, by the City of Portland.
• Since 2018, when China stopped buying our badly recycled materials, all garbage & recycling companies are now operating in the red, so are subsidized by us through the rates that Portland charges. 
• Most of the upcycle-able materials are at a historic low because there are few buyers at this time.
• With our ability to actually recycle correctly, and more companies buying wastes to manufacture new products like Renewable diesel, clothing and other reuse products, they hope to bring our costs down, sooner than later!

RECYCLING BASICS

• All BNA recycling materials are delivered to Far West Recycling, Westrock or EFI by one of our garbage & recycling haulers. 
• The Big Blue Bin - Mixed materials are presorted to remove the wire, clamshell like plastics, large cardboard pieces and big pieces of plastic. 
• The rest gets shoveled onto a larger sorter, first carted up a large conveyor belt, where materials are dropped through holes or pulled out with a magnet. Manual sorting is still required due to inappropriate materials being included. 
  

​
$$ - Valuable Waste

$$ - Separating glass really works - It’s great that Oregonians have a bottle deposit and separate out the glass which is almost impossible to get out of paper fibers for upcycle purposes. 70-75% of our mixed paper is purchased for recycling into paper products again.

$$ - Cardboard is highly valued by Oregon paper mills.​

$$ - There are specific buyers of recycled yogurt containers, wires, metals, milk jugs and baby seats. #2 and #1 plastics are also purchased for quality upcycling.

$$ - Many metals can be easily upcycled so recyclers can make money on these.

$$ - Electronic recyclers pick up materials collected at these sites. They have many buyers and other facilities to remove the valuable components out of the plastic waste in these products.

$$ - Used motor oil is easily upcycled, leave by your cans in a closed, capped container. 


NOT RECYCLED (what can’t get recycled)  Portland does a great job informing people how to recycle but people still don’t follow directions and comingling does cause some things to literally slips through the screens (that’s why no small bottles, lids or small stuff).

• Comingling allows for material to collect more efficiently but small stuff drops through and mucks up their sorter machines.  No lids! 
• That’s why no lids! A new Metro grant is helping them design and purchase a machine that will help them sort small pieces more efficiently. 
• Small stuff is a problem. Curbside shredded paper ends up in landfills most of the time. Even with their new sorter machine, they are lucky to retain 65% at best.
• Non-recyclable materials are crushed, baled and  thrown away. This costs them $100/ton so they are incentivized to take advantage of every possible material that can be recycled - to get recycled. 
• Plastic film, styrofoam, clothing, extension cords, rope and the ubiquitous plastic bags do not recycle. Long stringy things block up their sorter machine and cause delays. These items have to be removed by hand.

The Bridgeton neighborhood is one of Portland’s smallest neighborhoods with approximately 500 residents. We are served by the city of Portland licensed garbage and recycling services that picks up our garbage and recycling weekly. 

Land-based homes
Approximately 290 land-based homes in the Bridgeton Neighborhood receive garbage and recycling pick up once a week from Arrow Sanitary Service, (formerly Waste Connections). This curbside collection hauls the traditional can of trash, one mixed paper, plastic & metal recycling can, one glass container, and one food waste container. The size and costs depends on each household’s needs. The amount of garbage a land-based home-owner has to pay is directly tied to how much they recycle. 

Floating-homes
There are 17 Marinas (comprised of about 150 floating-homes) who receive garbage & recycling services at the top of their ramps. These homes are technically part of a business and so receive the benefit of selecting their own service providers. Unfortunately, this means that homes along Bridgeton Road have to listen to garbage & recycling trucks thundering by every day of the week from four different haulers; Portland Disposal & Recycling, Arrow Sanitary Service, Gruetter, and Recology. 

​Research & writing is fun!
Bridget Bayer, 503 673 6290
BNA Green Team, [email protected]