Lane County residents can give themselves a pat on the back for being the No. 1 recyclers in the state. At the end of August, Lane County was recognized by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for recovering and recycling 52 percent of all collected waste. This is well above the Oregon state average of 38.9 percent.
The achievement comes at an opportune time for Begin Recycling in Neighborhood Groups , which is a recycling service for Lane County while in the midst of celebrating its 30-year anniversary. BRING is one of the nation’s longest-running not-for-profit recycling organizations.
BRING General Manager Julie Daniels said that because BRING is solely not-for-profit, it puts a spotlight on recycling that for-profit businesses and governments otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.
“There are few communities nationwide that have the opportunity that we have in Lane County,” she said.
She also complimented the University’s own recycling system, calling it one of the better campus recycling programs in the country.
She said that because BRING introduced recycling into the Eugene community, it is viewed as a leader of innovation in providing such services.
“Recycling is so ingrained within our community that we take it for granted,” she said. “We want to raise the bar and keep setting the standard.”
Because there is very little waste material that cannot be recycled, Daniels said that a 52 percent recovery rate is only the beginning.
“We’re always asking, ‘How can we do this more effectively or efficiently?’” she said.
State Rep. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, was a volunteer for BRING during its infancy. While she expressed enthusiasm for Lane County’s achievement, she is also disappointed in the fact that more recycling services aren’t available statewide.
“Unfortunately, it isn’t cost-effective,” she said.
Walker said that while she hopes companies will change their manufacturing processes to use fewer materials, the responsibility of recycling should be placed on the individual. She suggested that consumers act conscientiously by purchasing items with less packaging.
“We have to make room in our landfills and make them last for many years,” she said.
Walker also spoke regarding the city of Eugene’s new curbside yard debris receptacles, noting that they will increase the percentage of recycled material.
State Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, said due to the enormous amount of packaging material in products, certain economic factors must be in place to increase the percentage of recycling done in Lane County.
“The issue is developing markets for recycled material and to develop incentives for manufacturers to recycle,” he said.
Barnhart said that a mandated reduction of packaging can only occur at a federal level, and that the state’s responsibility is to encourage recycling on a local level.
“We have to be careful about getting involved at a state level, because it’s an economic issue,” he said. “Once recycled material has value and will lower (a business’s) overall cost, businesses will become more involved in recycling.”