On recycle day, a truck goes around the neighborhood dumping the contents of our blue recycle carts into the belly of the truck. When the truck is full, it heads to a regional Material Recovery Facility. In these big warehouses, people and machinery sort metal, paper, cardboard, and plastics and bale them up to sell on the market. This raw material will then be reprocessed and made into new products.
Also during the sorting process, time and effort are put into removing contamination: the garbage from “wishcycling,” i.e., putting unaccepted items in the blue cart in hopes they will be recycled. These wishcycled items eventually end up the landfill.
Our recycling system works best when only accepted materials are put in the recycle cart because not all products are recyclable. To qualify, items must consistently be able to be collected, sorted, reprocessed, and marketed.
By only putting items on the accepted list in the recycle cart, you can be sure they’re getting recycled. Our region has an effective, modern landfill, which is the right place for some items. And our recycling systems are responsible, too—many materials are reprocessed and manufactured here in the Pacific Northwest!
Help your pickup drivers by setting carts to the curb by 6:30 a.m. on your service day or the night before. Leave three feet between each cart, with the handle facing your house so the lid opens toward the street.
Find more details, including video clips of the process, at portland.gov/bps/garbage-recycling.
Check out the new Portland Garbage Day Reminder app. Never miss a garbage day, and sign up for notifications if service is delayed. The app is available in the Apple store and Google Play.
Ideas, questions, or comments? Contact elizabeth.ann.erickson@gmail.com.
Liz Erickson has lived in the neighborhood with her husband and two children since 2009. Growing up in Beaverton, she remembers visiting grandparents on NE 42nd and walking to Rose’s Ice Cream for a scoop of butter brickle. She is a Master Recycler volunteer with Metro and served in the Peace Corps in Morocco.