2030 Regional Waste Plan adopted
On March 7, 2019, the Metro Council voted unanimously to approve a plan that will shape the way greater Portland manages the garbage and recycling system for the next 12 years
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What is the Regional Waste Plan?
The 2030 Regional Waste Plan is both a vision for greater Portland’s garbage and recycling system and a blueprint for achieving that vision.
- Listening and learning shaped the plan. Metro gathered a lot of great ideas to put into the plan that help make the system work better for everyone. The input from more than 4,000 local residents will change the way the system looks and how it will serve the public in the future.
- Solutions by the community, for the community. The plan’s goals and actions were generated in partnership with people most affected by historic injustices and inequities: people of color, immigrants and refugees, people with low incomes, residents of multifamily housing communities and English language learners.
- Benefits will be shared by all residents. The plan moves us towards a system where barriers and disparities are eliminated and includes actions designed to correct previous wrongs and honor the differences among people, no matter their race, immigration status or income level.
What problems and opportunities does the new plan address?
The 2030 Regional Waste Plan addresses challenges with our garbage and recycling system, including:
- How it impacts the environment, both locally and globally, and throughout the life of the products we make, use and throw away
- How it impacts human health, including chemicals in products that pose a danger
- How its inequitable distribution of services, benefits and impacts harm communities of color and others in our region.
Why should I care?
We live in a place where people care about protecting the environment, conserving resources, keeping people healthy and ensuring that our garbage and recycling system works for everyone. The plan makes the connection between our desire to support these values and the products we produce, purchase, use and throw away. It challenges us to look at how our patterns of consumption and our growing demands for materials have impacts locally and globally, and not just when we dispose of them.
The garbage and recycling system and related business sectors make up a significant part of the greater Portland area’s economy. The plan details how the system generates $537 million in economic benefits each year and employs thousands of people who live here.
The plan seeks to create conditions that will allow everyone to enjoy the benefits of our growing region. From the community-driven process that created the plan to the goals and actions in it, the plan is designed to correct inequities in the garbage and recycling system and build a more inclusive future.
What’s in the plan?
Almost everyone can point to an improvement they’d like to see in the garbage and recycling system or the services they get at their home or business. What new ideas and opportunities are in the plan? How will the system be transformed? Who’s responsible for making it happen? Find sections in the plan describing:
- values, principles and the vision to guide how improvements will be made and managed
- 19 goals and 105 related actions to help the region achieve its vision by 2030
- an approach to carrying out the plan and measuring progress over time
- definitions of terms and concepts and a lot more.
The narrative table of contents has brief descriptions of what’s in the plan and how it’s organized to make it easier to navigate the document.