FAQ - SWR

A. When glass breaks, glass shards damage expensive equipment at paper mills and can also pose a danger to employees who hand-sort recyclables. Keep glass separate!

A. With the exception of businesses located in Forest Grove or businesses that use a drop box or compactor for garbage collection, all businesses in Washington County with dumpster-style or cart-based garbage service are entitled to recycling service at no additional charge. Recycling may even lower your disposal costs. Adding recycling containers offers the possibility of decreasing your garbage service to a smaller container or to a less frequent pickup.

Businesses within Forest Grove and all customers with compactor-only garbage service may be charged a relatively small fee to add recycling pickup to your service. Diverting material to recycling and the resulting decrease in service level can potentially more than offset that extra fee. For example, if you are an average office building, located in Forest Grove, disposing of mostly paper, containers and packaging material, half of your waste may be recyclable.

Garbage-only service: 3-yard garbage container collected weekly= $218/month
Compared to:
Garbage + Recycling service: 1.5-yard garbage container collected weekly ($121/month) + 1.5 yard recycling container collected weekly ($18.10/month) = $139.10/month
Total savings = $78.90/month

That is real savings for recycling! Many businesses have the potential to decrease their waste and thus their costs – contact the Recycle At Work Program for more information about our free technical assistance services at 503-846-8609.

See also:

• Recycle at Work Technical Assistance Program

A. The materials included in the mixed recycling program regularly picked up by your hauler include: papers, metal cans and rigid plastic bottles, buckets and tubs. To recycle other items such as wood pallets, scrap metal, odd types of plastics, plastic film, 55-gallon barrels, bubble wrap or foam packing, etc., use Metro’s Find a Recycler website to find a recycler near you or contact the Washington County Recycle at Work program.
See also:

• Recycle at Work Technical Assistance Program
• Metro's Find A Recycler

A. Changes in technology may leave businesses with large amounts of obsolete electronic equipment. Fortunately there are several options for reusing and recycling electronic equipment before disposal is necessary. Businesses and other organizations can:
Donate: Schools or nonprofit groups will gladly accept useable equipment. To identify donation sites contact the Recycle at Work program
Resell: Sell equipment to employees, an electronics resale business or post the equipment on-line
Return: Ask if your manufacturer or supplier offers an electronics take-back program
Recycle: Locate nearby recyclers at Metro’s “Find a Recycler” webpage.

See also:

• Find A Recycler

A. Yes, your business is still required to meet the recycling requirements. The Business Recycling Requirements also apply to any person or entity that owns, manages or operates premises and provides garbage collection services for business tenants. If your property manager or owner is responsible for the garbage service location and has not yet provided for recycling collection service, contact them directly or contact the Washington County Recycle at Work Program for assistance; (503) 846-8609 or recycle@co.washington.or.us.
See also:

• Business Recycling Requirements

A. The business sector generates almost 50 percent of the waste collected in Washington County.  The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) found, in a recent waste composition study, that recyclable papers, cardboard and containers accounted for approximately 25 percent of the garbage collected from businesses in the Metro area. Thus, the primary goal of focusing on recycling at businesses is to recover these recyclable materials and send them to recycling markets to be utilized in manufacturing processes. Considering the recycling opportunities in our region, sending these valuable materials to landfills makes little economic or environmental sense.

A. According to the adopted Business Recycling Requirements, businesses must:

1. Place recycling receptacles throughout the workplace.
2. Post signs at collection areas that identify materials to be recycled.
3. Recycle all paper, cardboard and metal cans, plastic bottles and tubs, and glass bottles and jars (glass bottles and jars must be collected separately from all other recyclable materials).

Fortunately, the Washington County Recycle at Work Program provides free technical assistance and educational resources to make it easy to meet these requirements.

See also:

• Business Recycling Requirements
• Recycle at Work Assistance

A. Recycle at Work staff are available to assist your business by providing free internal recycling boxes, posters, labels, and tips to improve your recycling system. Our specialists also help to coordinate external recycling services with your collection service provider. Contact the Washington County Recycle at Work team at (503) 846-8609 or send an e-mail to recycle@co.washington.or.us. If your business is located within the City of Beaverton, please contact the Beaverton Recycle at Work Program at (503) 526-2665 or recyclingmail@ci.beaverton.or.us.

A. The recycling requirements apply to all businesses, government agencies, schools, and not–for-profit organizations. The requirements also apply to property managers and/or owners that provide garbage collection services for their business tenants. Residential or home-based businesses are exempt from the Business Recycling Requirements.

A. Washington County’s recycling program includes the collection of paper, cardboard, metal, rigid plastic tubs, buckets, and bottles. These materials can all be mixed together in the same container.
Glass needs to be placed in a container separate from the other recyclables.
See also:

• Recycling at Multifamily Communities

A. Cart contents will be collected on the next regularly scheduled collection day. You can place extra recycling out in a cardboard box or paper bag on your next recycling collection date or take extra recycling to a local recycling center.
See also:

A. Collection times vary. Recycling cart must be curbside by 6:00 a.m. on your collection day.
See also:

• Single Family Recycling

A. Plastic bags are not collected curbside. Do not use plastic bags to collect materials for your cart, instead use paper bags.

Bags mixed with recyclables tangle in sorting machinery, reducing the likelihood that materials will be sent to the right markets to be recycled. Example: Plastic bottles are inadvertently sent to a paper mills with piles of papers because the sorting machinery was clogged with plastic bags.

A. Attempt to fit all recycling into the cart while keeping it in mind that materials must freely fall out when tipped for collection. If your extra recyclables will not fit into the cart, collect these in a paper bag or cardboard box and set them next to the cart for collection.
Please take large quantities of extra recycling to a recycling depot. Depots also accept many materials that your curbside collection company will not accept
Fold or cut cardboard to fit inside the cart.

A. Newspaper, cardboard, paperboard, shredded paper, metal pieces (less than 30 lbs), metal and aluminum cans, plastic bottles and containers/buckets/tubs, and used motor oil.

A. In 2010, metropolitan area residents generate 7.14 pounds per capita daily. Much of this material can be recycled.

A. When glass breaks, it mixes with the other recyclable materials, which can cause harm to the workers that separate materials by hand at the sorting center. It can also ware on sorting equipment, making it less responsive to changes in material.

A. No - please recycle these at a recycling drop-off location or your local grocery store. When plastic bags are recycled at the curb, they tangle in the worting equipment and cause interruption in material recovery operations.

A. If your equipment is in working order, consider giving it to a friend or relative, sell it, or donate it to a non-profit. If your equipment is broken, take advantage of DEQ's free Oregon E-Cycles program. DEQ has contracted with local recyclers around the state to accept these materials for safe, responsible disposal at no charge. Find the location closest to you. 
See also:

• Oregon E-Cycles Program

A. Household hazardous waste consists of many toxic chemicals and compounds. Examples of household hazardous waset may include paint and stains, pool and spa chemicals, pesticides and poisons, automotive products (oil, antifreeze), thinners and solvents, household cleaners and disinfectants, batteries, art and hobby chemicals, aerosol spray products, fire extinguishers, propane tanks, mercury thermometers and thermostats, and more! All of these materials can be taken for disposal/recycling to Metro's Hazardous Waste facilities (Oregon City and Portland) who charge a nominal fee for the service.
See also:

• Metro's Hazardous Waste Facilities

A. Yes! Any plastic nursery pot that is less than 5 gallons can be collected at the curb providing that it is rinsed clean of debris and is rigid (does not crinkle). Just toss 'em in!

A. Residents with collection service may set out metal paint cans with less than 1" of dried paint remaining. The lid must be removed for the hauler to take it. If there is more than 1" of paint remaining, take these cans to Metro's Hazardous Waste facilities for free recycling. Your paint will likely be reformulated to make MetroPaint! Find more details at www.OregonMetro.gov/paint.

A. If you have a quantity of unused paint, instead of throwing it away, consider taking it to a PaintCare collection site. PaintCare collection sites accept new or remaining paint for free to recycle/reuse. www.PaintCare.org

A. Washington county has thirteen certificated haulers who collect garbage and recycling in the unincorporated areas. All of these haulers are assigned an exclusive area to service as part of their certificate. Don't know who's your hauler? Click on "Collectors" on the left column and select "Service Providers." You can also find out online at Oregon Metro's "Who's My Hauler" webpage (www.OregonMetro.gov/hauler) or call Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling at (503) 846-8609.