Bins! Black, green, yellow, and blue. We take them to the curbside week after week. What happens then?
Before explaining that, we need to understand the past. Portland originally had many garbage companies. They were usually one or two men with a truck. Companies like Heiberg, operating in Southeast Portland, started that way in 1947. And everything you wanted to discard – garbage, food waste, paper and cardboard, yard debris – went into the garbage can, and then into landfills.
In 1992, there were 69 garbage companies in Portland – but things were to change in a big way. Three big turning points occurred:
- In 1983, Oregon passed laws requiring recycling
- A company named Waste Management started up nationally in 1972, and by 1992 it had acquired 133 small garbage companies in 19 states
- In the Eastern United States, organized crime had been moving into the garbage business, and were trying to expand their reach.
So given all these issues, in 1991 the City of Portland, with the cooperation of all the garbage companies, moved to a franchise system for residential service. Portlanders no longer had their choice of haulers – but the haulers, as small businesses, had stability. The initial 69 companies, through mergers and acquisitions, in the years since are now down to 8 (and because of regulations, cannot go lower). There are 5 of these haulers within the BEE service area in Southeast Portland. Enough history…