• Home
• About Us
• Recycle
  • Disposal
  • Waste Prevention
  • What Can I Recycle?
    • Hood River
    • Wasco
    • Sherman
    • Skamania
    • Klickitat
  • Reuse
  • Households
  • Schools
    • Green Schools
  • Business
    • Green Business Recognition Program
  • Events
    • Clearstream
• Compost
  • Commercial Composting
  • Composting at Home
  • Essentials of Composting
  • What Is Composting?
  • Why Compost?
  • How to Compost
  • What to Compost
  • What Not to Compost
  • Compost Helpful Hints
  • Compost Troubleshooting
  • Compost Bin Designs
  • Where to Find Home Composters?
  • Study Looks at Compost in Gorge
    • -Download PDF
    • -Download Word Doc
• Hazardous Waste
  • How to Report a Spill
  • What Is Hazardous Waste?
  • What We Accept
  • Household Hazardous Waste
  • Business Hazardous Waste
  • Agricultural Hazardous Waste
  • Pre-Registration Form
  • Collection Event Schedule
• Resources
  • What's New?
  • Forum
    • Home
    • Login
    • Register
    • Member Control Panel
    • New Posts
    • Un-Answered Topics
    • Mail
    • Forum FAQ
    • Memberlist
    • Logout
    • RSS
  • F.A.Q.
  • Training
  • Links
  • Newsletter
  • Brochures
  • Booklets
• Master Recycler
  • Overview
  • Why Become a Master Recycler?
  • Course Structure
  • How to Apply
  • Application
  • Master Recycler Login
• Grants
  • Background
  • Types of Projects Funded
  • How to Apply
• Contact Us

Oregon’s recycling rates continue to slowly inch upward, based on calculations by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality measuring statewide waste recovery. The overall rate for Oregon in 2009 was 48.4%, up one-tenth of a percent over 2008’s official rate. However, the target set by DEQ is for Oregon to recycle 50% of its overall waste.

The annual Oregon Material Recovery and Waste Generation Rates Report prepared by DEQ shows waste generation and recycling figures statewide as well as for each county. The DEQ report shows that recycling and recovering materials translates into significant energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions.

Each county has a target recycling goal to meet. Locally, Hood River County and Wasco County met their recycling goals for 2009, while Sherman County was a bit short. Hood River County has consistently met and exceeded its recycling target of 25%, with a 2009 recovery rate of 35%. Sherman County has a target rate of 20%, and has been in the 16%-18% rates in recent years, with a rate of 16% for 2009.

Wasco County has historically struggled to meet its recycling target of 35%, with recent years hovering in the 25%-27% range. However, for 2009, Wasco County’s rate jumped to 38%. According to DEQ staff, the increase for Wasco County was primarily due to two larger scrap dealers in the metro area reporting a lot of material coming from Wasco County. One big project at the time was the deconstruction of the NW Aluminum smelter in early 2009.

These rates for the counties can include up to 6% “extra credit” points awarded by DEQ for county efforts to promote waste reduction, reuse, and residential composting. For 2009, Wasco County and Hood River County both receive 4% extra credit points for the following: having compost demonstration sites, selling compost bins at local transfer centers, having a large number of building material and other reuse/secondhand/thrift stores and promoting their usage. All three counties received 2% extra credit points for promoting waste reduction through newsletters, billing inserts and websites. The TriCounty Hazardous Waste & Recycling Program oversees much of this outreach.