The City of Portland will begin a recycling quality improvement pilot project this August to help residents avoid recycling mistakes that can harm workers, damage equipment, and increase costs. The pilot project will reach roughly one quarter of Portland’s single-family homes, selected at random.
Over the next several months, trained City contractors will review those randomly selected recycling carts set out at the curb in neighborhoods across the city and leave tags with feedback when they see common recycling mistakes.
The goal is to reduce items that don’t belong in recycling, sometimes called contamination. Things like plastic bags, food, and electronics can damage equipment, create safety hazards for workers, and increase processing costs…