Nearly six weeks after Marion County announced strict new curbside recycling rules, local garbage companies still haven’t notified their customers.
Some customers told the Statesman Journal their haulers have told them the rules have not changed and instructed them to continue under the old rules. And all but two of the companies’ websites contain outdated recycling information.
“We are certainly all on board,” said Kevin Hines, general manager of the Mid-Valley Garbage and Recycling Association, which represents the garbage companies. “We’re developing some brochures to send out to our customers.”
Hines said there is not an exact time for that to happen, but it will be soon. The companies also will soon post a uniform list of recyclables on their websites, he said.
Marion County scaled back its curbside recycling program, effective March 5, in response to China’s refusal to take most recyclable materials from western countries. China was the world’s largest importer of recycled paper and plastic and took most of Oregon’s recycling.
Among the items no longer allowed: shredded paper, egg cartons, milk boxes and most plastic containers.
Since then, Salem’s Garten Services, which takes about half of the county’s recycling, has noticed no change in the materials it is receiving, spokeswoman Gaelen McAllister said.
In addition to continuing to get now-banned items, the company still is getting things that never have been included on the list of approved recycling — things like dirty diapers, garden hoses and metal parts.
Garten plans to release a video next week showing what happens to inappropriate items that are thrown in the blue bin.
“It will show the process,” McAllister said, “so people can see there’s humans that have to sort through their stuff.”
Meanwhile, Marion County is in the process of mailing all residents an updated “Waste Matters” newsletter, which details the recycling changes.
The county also is working on a web site that will explain the new rules and post any changes, said Brian May, the county’s Environmental Services Division manager.
But some frustrated customers say the county and haulers should have developed materials before the announcement was made.
“Why haven’t they done it already? As someone who strongly believes in recycling, I think it’s a shame this has happened,” Salem resident Theresa Byrne said. “Why didn’t they do their job?”
Here's the new list of what Marion and Polk county households can now put in their blue co-mingled recycling bin:
Paper:
- Newspaper, including advertisements and paper inserts
- Corrugated cardboard
- Magazines and catalogs
- Junk/direct mail
- Boxes (cereal, cracker, cookie and shoe boxes)
- Office paper (Copier and printer paper, file folders, note paper, computer paper, brochures)
Metal:
- Steel (tin) cans
- Aluminum cans
Plastic (bottles and jugs only, clean with lids removed):
- Beverage bottles, 12 ounces or larger only (soda, water, juice)
- Other bottles (soap, household cleaning solutions)
- Jugs (milk, juice, detergent)
tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew