1 / 25

Oregon Rigid Plastic Container Law Recycling Rate Decline

Oregon Rigid Plastic Container Law Recycling Rate Decline. Plastics Interested Party Meeting California Integrated Waste Management Board October 6, 2006 Peter Spendelow Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. History. Passed Oregon Legislature in 1991

basil-sanford
Download Presentation

Oregon Rigid Plastic Container Law Recycling Rate Decline

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Oregon Rigid Plastic Container LawRecycling Rate Decline Plastics Interested Party Meeting California Integrated Waste Management Board October 6, 2006 Peter Spendelow Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

  2. History • Passed Oregon Legislature in 1991 • Part of a comprehensive recycling bill that passed unanimously • Effective date 1995 • Very similar to California’s original RPPC Law

  3. Similarities in Oregon & California Laws • Affect RigidPlasticContainers 8 oz to 5 gallons • Can comply through • Recycled content (25% post-consumer) • Recycling rate • Reusable/refillable 5 times or more • Source reduction option/exemption

  4. Difference: Oregon Recycling Rate For Compliance Purposes • Oregon still allows compliance through a statewide recycling rate of at least 25% • Rate is prospective – Oregon DEQ announces each year what it expects the rate to be for the coming year • Manufacturers can rely on this compliance rate even if the actual recycling rate ends up being less • Rate for Compliance Purposes has always been above 25% since law went into effect in Oregon • However, statewide rate is falling – may go below 25%

  5. Comparing Oregon and California Laws

  6. Determining the aggregate recycling rate: • Disposal: Waste composition study every 2-4 years • Recycling: Comprehensive recycling survey every year • Special studies: Curbside recycling study, contamination study • Project recycling rate for coming year (Recycling Rate for Compliance Purposes) using past trends and other information

  7. 200+ pound garbage samples are sorted to determine composition of plastics and other materials

  8. Contamin-ation analysis – Resorting and cleaning selected field-sorted samples

  9. We want just the clean, dry weight of containers

  10. 2004/05 Curbside Recycling Composition Study

  11. Cleaning / Drying Rigid Plastic Containers from Recycling

  12. Oregon Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate (preliminary for 2004, 2005) October 4, 2006

  13. Oregon Rigid Plastic Container Recycling Rate(2004, 2005 are preliminary) October 4, 2006

  14. What if rate falls below 25%? • DEQ must report to Oregon Legislature the declining rate and the reasons for the decline • Enforcement will be delayed 1 year after rate falls below 25%. Earliest enforcement would not be until 2008. • Need to comply in some other way: • Use at least 25% recycled content • Achieve 25% recycling rate for specific container type • make reusable • meet an exemption criteria • DEQ required to calculate resin-specific (#1-#7) recycling rates.

  15. Product Manufacturer Requirements • If aggregate rate above 25%, no recordkeeping required. • If rate falls below 25%, must be able to document compliance. • Container manufacturers provide “certificate of compliance” for containers with recycled content used by product manufacturer. • Product manufacturers responsible for documenting compliance with other qualifying options or exemptions, but may use data from container manufacturers or DEQ for demonstrating specific recycling rate requirements. • Product Manufacturer must make available a “Report on Compliance” to DEQ on request within 60 days of request. • Another 30 days to provide missing information, 45 days to provide additional documentation, possible 60 day extension.

  16. Effect of the law • Recycling rate has exceeded 25% since first measurement (1993), but probably was below 25% when the law passed (1991) • American Plastics Council stepped up with strong recycling enhancement programs for Oregon • Sited and paid for high-tech Plastics Recycling Facility in Salem, Oregon • Provided guaranteed floor price for plastic bottles recycled in Oregon for 3 years • Most Oregon cities added mixed bottle collection because they were convinced the recycling market was secure.

  17. Plastics Recycling FacilityGarten ServicesSalem, Oregon

  18. Recycling Tonnage 2005 by Source(preliminary estimates) October 4, 2006

  19. 2004-05 Non-fiber Recyclables in ONP (from Metro study)

  20. Disposal by Plastic Container Type(2005 preliminaryestimates) October 4, 2006

  21. Disposal by Plastic Beverage Container (2005 preliminaryestimates) October 4, 2006

  22. Disposal By Resin (2005 preliminaryinformation) October 4, 2006

  23. Resin Specific Recycling Rates (preliminaryinformation) October 4, 2006

  24. Recent Changes and Changes on Horizon • Commingled collection has led to loss of materials at sorting facilities Estimated 1700 tons of plastic containers slipped by sorters in 2005 and went to newsprint mills • Increased sales of containers with low recycling rate lowers our overall recycling rate • Oregon would not have met 25% rate without bottle bill

  25. Oregon Law and Rules References Law: Oregon Revised Statutes 459A.650 to 459A.665 http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/459a.html Rules: Oregon Administrative Rules 340-090-0310 to 0430 http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/rules/OARs_300/OAR_340/340_090.html

More Related