Portland, Oregon regional government approves commercial organics mandate
UPDATE: July 30, 2018: The Metro Council voted in favor of the ordinanceon Thursday. A Metro representative told Waste Dive in an email that the council voted 7-0 to pass the measure.
- Establishments that generate 1,000 pounds or more of organics per week would have to comply by March 2020. Generators of 500 pounds or more would be phased in by March 2021, followed by those with 250 pounds or more by Sept. 2022.
- Metro is budgeting $400,000 for technical assistance to local governments in the upcoming fiscal year and is also prepared to make offset payments to service providers in the event that transfer or processing sites for organics are farther than existing refuse facilities. Metro is also in negotiations with Waste Management to open a pre-processing facility to prepare material for anaerobic digestion at Portland’s Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Facility.
By Katie Pyzyk, Waste Dive.