Douglas County and Sunrise Enterprises Suspending Recycling Efforts
ROSEBURG, Ore. – Due to the Chinese recycling import ban, the Douglas County Landfill and Transfer Stations, as well as our recycling partner, Sunrise Enterprises, will be suspending recycling efforts in Douglas County. This is an unfortunate, but necessary economic decision. The Chinese import ban has put a stop to what has been the primary market for Oregon recyclables. Chinese authorities stated the reason for the ban was that non-recyclable products or substances were contaminating shipments. Douglas County will continue to work with our local and regional partners to search for viable options for selling our recyclables.
Effective June 1, 2018, the Douglas County Landfill and all County-operated Transfer Stations will no longer accept the following recyclables: newspaper, plastic containers, plastic bottles, paper, co-mingle, glass and cardboard. Until the recycling market can recover or possibly return, we ask that you dispose of the above mentioned items with your other household waste with your local waste disposal company* or at the landfill or transfer station as refuse. We have been informed that Sunrise Enterprises will be closing all of their Recycling Centers starting the first of June.
Douglas County, along with local governments, collectors, processors and industry representatives are working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to secure concurrence certificates for their local programs. Concurrence means that local waste collection programs will be allowed to temporarily dispose recycled items in their landfills.
According to the DEQ’s website, they are following the China ban of post-consumer plastics and unsorted paper closely and will release information as it becomes available. Additionally, given the major market disruption this is causing, DEQ said that its partners are preparing for different possibilities and developing strategies for recycling collection and processing where possible. During this ban, the state will experience short-term challenges, and DEQ plans to continue to encourage recycling as much as possible. They state that these challenges present an opportunity to develop long-term plans to strengthen local processing capacity, identify and grow new markets, reduce contamination and deepen partnerships. DEQ concurs that land filling these materials at this time is an unfortunate, but necessary action. For more information on the recycling crisis in Oregon log onto: http://www.oregon.gov/deq/
Maintaining and protecting the environment are part of Oregon’s identity, and we are committed to protecting the integrity of Oregon’s reuse, reduce and recycling programs. We encourage citizens to continue to separate their recycling and garbage, because hopefully this will be a temporary situation. Avoiding contamination is a matter of forming of habits, and we ask that people continue to separate their materials.
*Citizens will need to check with their local waste disposal company for information on what changes they will be making to their recycling programs in the near future. For questions about how this might affect the Oregon Bottle Bill, please direct those concerns to the OLCC at (503) 872-5132.
Please note that the Douglas County Landfill will continue to accept yard and wood debris for compost production. And, the Roseburg Transfer Station will continue to accept tin, aluminum, batteries, oil and appliances.
Contact Tamara Osborne, Emergency Communications & Community Engagement Specialist (PIO)
(541) 670-2804 cell – (541) 957-4896 office – tjosborn@co.douglas.or.us
About Douglas County Public Works Department
The Public Works Department consists of five divisions: Administration, Administrative Services, Engineering, Natural Resources and Operations & Maintenance. Administration provides direction and support to all divisions. The Administrative Services Division is a centralized cost accounting and budgeting division that is responsible for accounts payable/receivable, personnel/time records, special waste permits. The Engineering Division is responsible for design of all road and bridge projects within the County, including contract administration. The Natural Resources Division is responsible for all water projects and water resources management within the County including operation of the Galesville and Berry Creek dams. The Operations and Maintenance Division is responsible for operating and maintaining the County road system and 12 solid waste transfer stations. This includes road maintenance, signing, striping, vegetation control, solid waste operations, recycling and Adopt-A-Highway program.
About Douglas County
Douglas County Government employs approximately 800 full- and part-time employees in a wide variety of jobs. The Board of Commissioners, consisting of three full-time members, is the county’s governing body. They provide a direct link between the citizens of Douglas County and their county government. The Board of Commissioners is responsible for: approving ordinances (county laws); adopting the county budget; setting standards for the use of county property; appointing non-elected officials to boards, commissions, and committees; and oversees all operations of the county.