The 2030 Regional Waste Plan is the blueprint for how we plan for and manage the impacts of waste in greater Portland. Learn about the progress Metro and partners have made implementing this ambitious plan.
Metro and partners strive to make garbage and recycling services fit the needs of the people of the region. The Regional Waste Plan gives guidance to improve service quality and access, while keeping services affordable.
It also calls for a more resilient system, ready for disasters and changing conditions. Progress towards the goals include more opportunities for reuse and repair, an important way to reduce waste and the need to manufacture new things.
There are goals in the plan focused on improving the garbage and recycling system including:
- Increase reuse, repair and donation of materials and products
- Provide regionally consistent services and facilities for garbage, recyclables and other priority materials
- Manage garbage and recycling operations to reduce nuisance, safety and environmental impacts
- Coordinate planning for the impact of disasters on the solid waste system
- Ensure routine garbage and recycling operations can be restored quickly following a disruption
Highlights of 2022:
- Metro’s Investment & Innovation grants awarded $2 million, distributed to 22 organizations during the 2022 grant cycle. Community Warehouse was awarded a grant to establish a third warehouse, located in Gresham. The organization will pilot a “reuse hub” model to share space with other reuse organizations.
- Washington County and the cities of Beaverton and Hillsboro adopted reduced rate programs to provide garbage and recycling services to eligible community members.
- The Metro Council adopted Ordinance 22-148, establishing the Disaster Debris Management Reserve and Grant program to assist local governments in the region with the financial impacts of managing debris generated by disasters.
In addition to these highlights, cleaning up greater Portland was a top priority in 2022. Increased RID Patrol crews, Regional Refresh Fund support and a one-time $10 million allocation from the State of Oregon helped create a healthier, more beautiful place to call home.
In 2022, Metro and partners utilized the state funding to provide cleanup services to their communities. Many of these efforts prioritized services and collection opportunities to residents living at multifamily properties.
Funding supported downstream cleanup efforts to clean dumped trash, dispose of abandoned vehicles and remove graffiti as well as upstream efforts to help communities get rid of hard-to-dispose-of materials, such as the collection of large household items and medical sharps.
In 2022, this state funding supported:
- 1,419 cleanups
- 1,160 miles of litter removal and patrol
- 46 boats removed from public spaces, including the two largest derelict vessels in the region
- Temporary collection service and voucher programs for large household item collection at multifamily properties
- In addition, in 2022 Metro’s RID Patrol cleaned up 1,160 tons of dumped garbage in the region. And the Regional Refresh Fund sponsored 73 projects by community partners supporting cleanup needs in underserved communities.