Oregon has long prided itself on a strong environmental ethic, being an early adopter of bottle-and-can deposits and recycling.
But the ground has shifted considerably since recycling started, with many changes to packaging materials and markets for recycling. A bill before the Oregon legislature, Senate Bill 582-1, aims to tighten up recycling, with a particular focus on keeping plastic packaging from ending up in landfills.
Sanne Stienstra is a material recovery specialist at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). She describes the work that led up to the legislation, and what the bill, if passed, would specifically change.
Note: there is a hearing scheduled on this bill, on February 23rd.