Metro operates five facilities that help manage waste in the region, alongside several private and non-profit facilities. The Garbage and Recycling System Facilities Plan will take a holistic view of these facilities and the system and help clarify Metro’s future role in providing facility-based services, including facilities to be built or renovated by Metro or in cooperation with public, private and non-profit partners.
Metro is convening local government, industry and community-based leaders to guide the development of the Garbage and Recycling System Facilities Plan.
Building the scenarios
Scenario planning is a practice that helps people think about the many ways the future could unfold. It supports decision-making about projects, policies and investments in an accessible way.
There are three main types of tools Metro can use to address facility gaps:
- Building new Metro facilities and renovating existing ones: Metro could build new facilities and/or renovate its existing transfer stations to address specific facility gaps in different parts of the region.
- Direct investments in private and nonprofit facilities: Metro could provide funding to businesses and nonprofits to increase the collection of items for reuse and recycling using their own facilities, equipment and methods.
- Policies and programs: Metro could implement a range of options such as increasing requirements on private garbage and recycling facilities and/or city and county collection programs. Metro could also create programs to encourage – rather than require – cities, counties and private facilities to expand services.
The scenarios apply the tools in different ways to address facility gaps that were identified through engagement and analysis.
Learn more in the discussion guide
The discussion guide is designed to explain possible scenarios based on identified gaps, and to spark conversation around the future of the region’s garbage and recycling facilities.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, Metro staff held a Reuse, Recycling and Garbage System Symposium which included elected officials, local government representatives, industry, reuse businesses and community partners coming together to provide recommendations to Metro Council to help shape future system investments. Following a panel discussion, this guide was used for an interactive workshop.
This guide presents four scenarios for the future of facilities in our region. The preferred scenario may be one of these four scenarios, a modified scenario or a combination of elements from two or more scenarios.
Evaluating the scenarios
The scenarios represent different ways of responding to the gaps identified through engagement and technical analysis. The four scenarios were assessed using evaluation criteria developed in Phase 2 of the project. The planning horizon for this evaluation goes through the year 2040. The following six categories of evaluation criteria were developed and assessed:
- Environment
- Access
- Jobs
- Cost
- Environmental Justice
- Resilience
Each of the criteria has one or more sub-criteria which were based on the values and outcomes developed in Phase 1 of the project and are explained in more detail in the summary flyer. Complete results with detailed descriptions of the evaluation methodology can be found in the Evaluation Criteria Results Memo.
What’s Next
Input provided by participants of the Reuse, Recycling and Garbage System Symposium and the preferences they shared in the accompanying survey will help inform Metro Council’s decision in winter 2024 on a preferred scenario. The preferred scenario or combination of scenario components will move forward into Phase 4 of the System Facilities Plan for more analysis, including developing a detailed funding and implementation strategy.