Representatives from the three solid waste haulers in Lincoln County provided details about the Recycling Modernization Act (RMA) to the county commissioners at their meeting on May 1.
Paul Seitz, manager of the Lincoln County Solid Waste District, said local recycling efforts are going quite well. “For a rural county, for a small area in the state, we are really operating at close to what’s happening in metropolitan areas in services, education, all those things, and that really is the three partners that we have here who are doing that fantastic work,” he said. “I also want to complement all three haulers that we have. They basically work together in a cooperative to make the universal program.”
With Seitz were Lexi Howell, human resources manager for North Lincoln Sanitary Service; Aimee Thompson, public information and education officer with Thompson Sanitary; and Dave Larmouth, outreach manager for Dahl Disposal Service.
Thompson said they have been involved in discussions about the RMA since the start. “I was privileged to be on the rule-making committee,” she said. “We had six meetings at five hours apiece from July until April. Dave was my alternate, and Lexi attended all of them as well.”
The act was signed into law in 2021 by then Gov. Kate Brown, and all of the rule-making for it has just been finalized. It is now going through a public comment process.
“There’s been so much collaborative work that’s been so awesome with DEQ, our haulers, recycling facilities, to really get something that’s going to work and really meet the intent of the law,” Thompson said.
According to DEQ’s website, the RMA will update Oregon’s outdated recycling system by building on local community programs and leveraging the resources of producers to create an innovative system that works for everyone. The recycling program changes will start in July 2025.
DEQ said that under the new law, “this system-wide update will make recycling easier for the public to use, expand access to recycling services, upgrade the facilities that sort recyclables, and create environmental benefits while reducing social and environmental harms, such as plastic pollution. Producers and manufacturers of packaged items, paper products and food serviceware will pay for many of these necessary improvements and help ensure recycling is successful in Oregon.”
Thompson said, “Luckily, Lincoln County already does a great job with recycling, but essentially the RMA is supposed to level out all of the playing fields across the state of Oregon.
“One of the big things for us is we will be reimbursed for trucking anything over 50 miles,” she added, “which makes it a more level playing field with a metro area where their recycling facilities are within 50 miles.”
There is also supposed to be a benefit to product manufacturers if they make their packaging more environmentally friendly, said Thompson. “It’s called an Equal Modulation Fee. It is very detailed, (and) the DEQ is working on that. The life cycle of product packaging will be evaluated.”
Howell said a large part of all this “is making sure we’re not just throwing stuff in this blue bin and hoping it goes somewhere.” The idea is to make more things recyclable. “All three of us (haulers) really pared down what we were willing to recycle because we wanted to make sure we knew what was happening with it,” she said. “If we are going to extend this list, where is it going and what’s happening with it? If they’re going to tell us it’s recyclable, it better be.”
Seitz said, “This program, I think, is really, truly going to hit the mark. What RMA does a fantastic job of is it opens markets to this rural community, for us especially, for things that have fibers in it, milk cartons for example. They’re going to put milk cartons back into a recycling container, and those milk cartons are going to have end markets, and those end markets are going to pay for that addition to your cart, not your rate payer. This is going to change how we recycle and make it very effective without adding cost.”
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