Editorial

A better way to recycle containers

An outdated feature of Oregon’s groundbreaking Bottle Bill is its dependence on grocery stores to serve as recycling centers for the community.

As such, it is heartening to see that Gresham may be the first city in the state to test a worthy alternative to that practice – a centralized container-redemption facility.

When the bottle bill was passed in 1971, retailers who sold containers that were covered by the law were required to charge a deposit and also reimburse customers for the containers when they were returned. This provision, reasonable at the time, put the onus on private businesses to administer a program intended to have widespread public benefit.

Over the years, the numbers and types of containers being returned to grocery stores have expanded exponentially. The state now is experimenting with the centralized redemption centers, and a Gresham site at the corner of Northeast Hogan Road and Division Street has been chosen for the first of these facilities.

If Gresham shows this program to be a success, it will set a positive example that will allow 90 such centers to be established in Oregon. As with any change, the new procedure will meet some resistance. But we hope local residents will embrace the center, once it is up and running in mid-August, as an improvement for the environment and as a relief to the grocery stores located closest to the container facility.

http://www.theoutlookonline.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=124581300439513600