WHITE CITY, Ore. -- Rogue Disposal and Recycling says its stricter rules are making a big difference.
The service stopped accepting mixed paper, plastic, glass bottles and glass jars March 5 due to China's crackdown on imported recyclable materials.
The service now only accepts these items:
- Corrugated Cardboard (the kind with the wavy middle layer)
- Tin and Aluminum Cans (no lids)
- Newspaper (including inserts and ads, no magazines)
- Plastic Milk Jug Style Containers (clear or white, no lids)
"In April we were able to market over 90 percent of the comingled material that we collected curbside and in May we were able to market a little over 96 percent of the material," Leebrick said.
By marketing material, Leebrick means sending it off to where it gets made into something else.
For the four months leading up the new rules, the service had to put a lot of recycled materials in landfills.
Now, more than three months later, things are much cleaner.
"We have visually noticed an improvement in the material stream, we are very greatful to our costumers, we know that people were not happy to have to make changes," Leebrick said.
She said before making the change, an average red lid cart was 24.6 percent trash.
Leebrick said the service is also using cards to remind customers when they put something in a cart that is not supposed to be.
