Lane County Waste Management is introducing ongoing community-based plastics recycling to replace its single day Plastics Roundup event.
This new model of recycling plastics will rely on community collectors, who have to register with the county. These collectors are trained on gathering numbers 2, 4, and 5 plastics, ensuring they’re clean, and separated correctly. They can then schedule a drop-off at the Glenwood Transfer Station starting in late September.
Angie Marzano, waste reduction specialist, says having trained collectors is more efficient than their past Plastics Roundup events.
“They actually prepared materials better than community members that brought it in through the roundup. It was cleaner, adhesive labels were removed, because we did training with the community collectors prior to the event,” says Marzano. “Then they were consolidated trips, meaning there was more material brought in to Glenwood.”
Oregon is no longer able to send plastics to China because they barred import of most plastics recycling in 2017.
