Recycling landscape changing in Portland

Alas, it's been so long since I last posted in 2013 that not only did I have to find my old password to log in, but we're now in danger of not being able to recycle much besides cardboard now, boo.

Seriously. We apparently have done such a poor job of separating our garbage OUT of our recycling streams (including too many low-grade plastics and too much actual garbage) that China has recently refused to buy any more compressed plastic or paper from the Pacific Northwest, where I'm writing this in November 2017. (We've apparently been sending our recycling material to them for years.)

Indeed, a rare recent trip to Far West in SE Portland still down on SE 26th found them taking only bottles with necks and #4 and #5 tubs, just like the curbside recycling does. This is considered higher grade material worth collecting still. But they now ask a $5 minimum fee for any amount, and no longer take any other plastics, and just some metal and glass. Thankfully I didn't have much on me that trip, unlike some others who showed up with whole car loads only to learn the same thing~! And rumor has it even this may be refused after the new year - stay tuned. (That would be a huge bummer!)

It's also been so long that I have actually returned to part-time work in a tech-support firm who have also achieved status as a B corporation which includes being good environmental stewards. So I gladly took up the recycling reins upon arriving. Or trying to.

Sadly, our suppliers use a lot of that #4 LDPE block foam I posted about almost 4  years ago now, aka "ethafoam" per my past writing. So I am once again up to my eyeballs in block packaging material that cannot be recycled, but doesn't easily fit in the garbage at work either, sigh.

Upon chatting with Metro a month ago, they expressed sympathy, but warned me that things were looking bleak (the Chinese ban was pending then), and urged me to "push back" on our suppliers, in an effort to get them to change up their packaging. Yeah, good luck with that! Yes, I'm aware of alternative materials such as pressed paper board and even mushroom based packing, but I'm sure this would increase costs to the consume a fair amount, and few are willing to pay for it.

But, it got me thinking. While getting computer suppliers to change their packaging may be a heavy lift (though not impossible), I started to think about what else I could do on the personal front to reduce my waste stream now that we can't recycle nearly as much as before.

One small but not trivial item I noticed was all of the "disposable" containers used at New Seasons markets for deli items and bulk olives. I cleaned and dried the last two I had used, and put them in a pile to add to the grocery bags I re-use also. In other words, re-using these vs trying to recycle or worse, discarding them could certainly help.

But I admit this feels a bit like spitting into a strong wind up at Vista House on Crown Point. It's now my fervent hope that some enterprising American takes it upon themselves to create a market for this waste stream. But meanwhile I think we're all going to feel some pain at the garbage can as our recycling streams are cut, and the garbage builds up again faster. The plastics really do lend a lot of airy bulk to the stream.

I'm not done pursuing this. Not by a long shot. Nay, I'm just getting started. But for now, please know that only high grade rigid plastics in the form of bottles with necks (no lids) and #4 and 5 tubs (margarine, yogurt e.g.) with no lids are accepted now.

I'll try to keep this site updated more often again as I continue to pursue this, especially now that I have the password again!

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Jan(droid) the still recycling android (or trying)