(Left) More than 140 new RecycleOn Centers will open across Oregon by the end of 2027 (right) A unified statewide recyclable list clarifies what people can recycle in their recycling bins or at drop-off transfer stations | Photos by Andrea Hine
Damaged by international market shifts (such as China’s policy enacted around 2018 that sharply restricted the import of foreign recyclables); lack of consistency across Oregon as to what could or could not be recycled; and the fact that, for decades, local municipalities and rate payers have borne nearly 100 percent of the cost of sorting, processing, and managing packaging
waste — rather than the companies producing the packaging — Oregon passed the Recycling Modernization Act (RMA) in 2021 to streamline the state’s outdated recycling system…