ORS 459A.914 (Section 22 of the Recycling Modernization Act) requires the Environmental Quality Commission to identify by rule two lists of materials:
- Materials collected by local governments (or their service providers) as part of the opportunity to recycle. This includes most on-route collection from households, some on-route collection from businesses, and some drop-off sites.
- Covered products of which a producer responsibility organization must provide for collection through recycling depot or mobile collection events. For such products, the Commission must also establish collection targets, convenience standards and performance standards.
DEQ will propose rules to the EQC that identify acceptance lists and collection targets/standards in 2023. Rule concepts and draft rules are being developed through an iterative process that includes information gathering and analysis, a technical workgroup, modeling of potential economic and environmental impacts, consultation with the state's Recycling Council and a Rulemaking Advisory Committee, and public engagement. This web page details DEQ's evaluation of materials and the process in place to develop its proposal. Rule concepts and draft rules will be posted to the rulemaking page as they are developed.
Request for Information
DEQ published a Request for Information seeking information to help it evaluate materials under consideration against the statutory criteria established in Section 22 of the Recycling Modernization Act. The deadline for responses was March 20, 2022.
Technical workgroup
DEQ convened a technical workgroup that provided information and important feedback on evaluation methods, data sources, and preliminary research findings. The workgroup also discussed several of the responses to the Request for Information. The workgroup met six times between March and September of 2022. All meetings were open to the public. Meeting agendas, presentations, summaries and other information can be viewed below.
Meeting 1: March 23, 2022
Meeting 2: April 28, 2022
Meeting 3: May 31, 2022
Meeting 4: July 19, 2022
Meeting 5: Aug. 23, 2022
Meeting 6: Sept. 20, 2022
Economic Assessment (Scenario Analysis)
DEQ commissioned extensive modeling of the potential direct cost implications (labor, fuel, etc.) of more than twenty different potential future recycling scenarios, each with different recycling acceptance lists and modes of collection. This was paired with an analysis of 13 different categories of environmental impacts, which were also evaluated for their economic impacts as indirect costs.
Rulemaking
Section 22 and material acceptance lists are part of a multi-topic rulemaking. DEQ is currently projecting that proposed rules will be considered by the EQC around November 2023. That rulemaking is supported by a Rulemaking Advisory Committee and provides additional opportunities for public involvement during all meetings of the Committee and again once rules are drafted.
For more information
Please contact DEQ's project manager, David Allaway at 503-229-5479.