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Stricter Recycling Guidelines Upset Some In Portland

Posted by: Nate Berg

1 June 2007 - 2:00pm

Portland, Oregon, is pushing stricter regulations on the city's waste, mandating that residents and businesses recycle 75% of their waste by 2015. Many businesspeople are upset about the costs that would be associated with compliance.

"By 2015, the city wants the largest food-related businesses to have their scraps collected for recycling. The plan also calls for all businesses regardless of size to recycle paper. Construction jobs valued at more than $50,000 would need to recycle 75 percent of their waste."

"Some 20 percent of all disposed garbage consists of building materials that can be recycled, according to the city. The city also estimates that 29 percent of all garbage contains food scraps that can be composted."

"The proposals call for recycling rates to jump from the currently targeted 50 percent levels to 75 percent in 2015. Portland residents and businesses currently recycle 63 percent of their waste."

"'There isn't enough information out there to determine whether making these changes to the entire commercial system will get us' to the city's goals, said Agatha Viernes, assistant property manager for Unico Properties LLC's Portland office."

Full Story: A ruckus over rubble
Source: Portland Business Journal, May 25, 2007
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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.
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