Member News

Salem officials find turbulent recycling market pinching local garbage haulers

10 Nov 2018

From the Salem Reporter, by Troy Brynelson

A proposed hike in garbage bills will get a public hearing at Salem City Council next week. Staff reports released Thursday suggest the six garbage hauling companies are struggling in 2018.

Art Kuenzi played a sort of garbage man’s roulette Thursday morning. Every blue recycling bin on Southeast 45th Avenue could be good or bad.

Good meant flipping open a bin to find cardboard, newspaper or dry plastic milk jugs. Bad bins held soggy fast-food cups or cheap plastic packaging.

AmSty and Agilyx Announce Joint Venture for Polystyrene Recycling

9 Nov 2018

From Press Release:

AmSty and Agilyx have signed a Letter of Intent to form a joint venture that will assume operations of Agilyx’s first-in-kind polystyrene recycling facility in Tigard, Oregon. The process converts used polystyrene products back into their original liquid form, styrene monomer. Fresh polystyrene products can then be made without degrading quality or value. This form of circular recycling is known as the PolyUsable™ process.

Fiber stakeholders offer details on cup-to-cup recycling effort

7 Nov 2018

From Resource Recycling, by Colin Staub

WestRock and other players in the paper supply chain recently completed a pilot project that collected and recycled 25 million fiber cups from Starbucks.

Through the pilot project, collected Starbucks coffee cups were sent to recycled paper company Sustana, which used the material to create 100 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.

New Recycling Opportunities for Residents and Businesses that Share Garbage Collection Service

30 Oct 2018

In response to changes in Oregon’s recycling laws, the opportunity to recycle is being extended to all residents and businesses that share garbage collection service provided by a middle party, such as a multi-tenant property owner or property manager, regardless of the number of tenants sharing service. The change will require cities and counties to ensure tenants and owners receive recycling collection by July 1, 2022.

DEQ wants your comments, and you have one month left!

Oregon’s Refillable Bottle Receives National Acclaim

26 Oct 2018

FROM OBRC PRESS RELEASE

Chicago, Illinois – On October 9, an innovative refillable bottle being used by Oregon craft beverage makers took top honors in the sustainability category at the Glass Packaging Institute’s (GPI) annual Clear Choice Awards. The new BottleDrop Refill bottle is by far the most environmentally sustainable option available for beverage packaging.

Changing Recycling Rules Reveals What is Truly Recyclable.

15 Oct 2018

From the Salem Weekly

Marion County residents filled their mixed recycling carts with the expectation that everything inside was put to good use as new products.

But China’s demand last winter that our recyclables not be contaminated with trash revealed the truth: our mixed recycling carts are not a recycler’s gold mine. To find the items that can actually be recycled, you have to sort through a lot of garbage.

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