Beaverton’s Sustainability & Recycling Programs welcome Caitlin Ahearn as our new Recycling Specialist.  She fills the position formerly held by Elizabeth Cole (who is now our Recycling and Waste Prevention Coordinator).

Caitlin previously worked at Washington County and the City of Gresham (through the Confluence AmeriCorps program), Oregon DEQ, and Portland Community College.

Starting April 2nd, PDX travelers will be able to dine on real dishes and silverware in the food cart area of the Oregon Market. 

The new durable dishware is part of a three-month pilot project made possible by a grant from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

From DEQ Materials Management December Newsletter

From the DEQ Materials Management December Newsletter

In December, DEQ awarded more than $600,000 in grant funding to 19 projects across the state.

These grants will help Oregon manage materials more sustainably, reducing environmental impacts while also creating jobs, feeding at-risk populations, and supporting home construction for low-income families.

From the DEQ Material Management December Newsletter

DEQ’s annual Oregon Material Recovery and Waste Generation Report is now available, and the results show a decrease in recovery and an increase in waste generation.

Marion County has partnered with the Salem Environmental Education organization to bring you the very first EarthWISE Sustainability luncheon.  That means food, facts, familiar faces, and fabulously great opportunities to network while learning about current and upcoming possibilities in changes that are coming our way.

The Department of Environmental Quality has released two new waste prevention campaigns to help local governments comply with new Waste Prevention and Reuse requirements of SB 263. These shelf-ready campaigns are now available on

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Sustainability Board have just published nine new literature summaries addressing the environmental impacts of a variety of foods and food-related issues. The literature summaries are designed to help growers, producers, retailers, and large purchasers reduce the environmental impacts of foods.

On July 18, 2017, China notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its intent to ban the import of certain scrap materials by year end. 

On September 13, 2017: draft revised "GB 16487" Environmental Protection Control Standards for Imported Solid Wastes as Raw Materials, with further restrictions on allowable prohibitives. 

Are you a municipal representative?

Do you want to help design a new data management, program assessment, and public outreach service that will be available free-of-charge to municipal solid waste and recycling program managers in 2018?