This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Green Oregon Knows Its Garbage
Posted by Alex Zielinski on Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 3:44 PM
As curbside recycling (and soon, composting) projects grow across the state, Oregon receives confirmation that its on the right path when it comes to trash. According to a Department of Environmental Quality waste recovery and generation report, Oregonians diverted 46.3 percent of waste from landfills in 2010 — the state's highest rate since the report's 1992 initiation. However, the total waste generated by the state — 4.69 million tons — is slightly higher than 2009's rankings. The report also estimated that recycling and recovery saved Oregon the energy equivalent of 258 million gallons of gasoline over the past year. Woo!
Now for a classy pie chart to further illustrate the point.
- Department of Environmental Quality
And Portland tips the scale. The Portland metro area alone had a 51 percent recovery rate (tied with Lane County) which will undoubtedly rise after the upcoming curbside composting plan is underway. At the other end of the rankings: Wheeler County came in with the lowest recovery rate at 8 percent (but hey, at least they have a recycling page).
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