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Garbage rates increase: New food waste recycling program launched

Matt Cofer, the operations manager for Republic Services, said kitchen pails will be delivered to Republic Services customers in September. New garbage rates and recycling start in October.
Matt Cofer, the operations manager for Republic Services, said kitchen pails will be delivered to Republic Services customers in September. New garbage rates and recycling start in October.

By Kristine Thomas

Greasy pizza boxes, pineapple bark, coffee grounds and filters, apple cores, egg shells, watermelon rinds and other food waste will no longer be relegated to your gray garbage cart, beginning Oct. 1.

Instead, food waste will be allowed to co-mingle with brown leaves, grass clippings and other yard debris in the green cart.

As a way to reduce the amount of  garbage, Silverton residents can start placing food scraps in the green organic cart on Oct. 1, Matt Cofer, the operations manager for Republic Services, said.

He added yard debris containers are also getting a new name – now to be known as the green organic cart.

In mid-September, Cofer said Silverton residents will receive a green kitchen pail for food scraps. The kitchen pail can be dumped into the green cart. He said the kitchen pails can be lined with newspaper or paper sacks, which also can be tossed in the green cart.

The green and gray carts will be picked up on a weekly basis.

“Anything you put in your garbage disposal can now go into your yard waste cart,” Cofer said.

Food waste recycling
This month, Silverton residents
will receive kitchen pails to be
used to recycle food waste.

For the green pail, green cart:
Proteins, such as meat, bones,
eggs, cheese and dairy products.
Bread, pasta, rice and other grains.
Beans, nuts and seeds
Vegetables and fruit
Coffee grounds and filters, tea bags
Paper napkins and paper towels
Pizza delivery boxes
Table scraps, plate scrapings
and leftovers

For the gray garbage can:
Plastic and produce bags
Compostable plastic bags
Compostable plastic takeout
containers and utensils
Paper plates and cups
Paper cartons
Fast food wrappers and
packaging
Takeout containers
Coffee cups
Pet waste
Large amounts of cooking
grease, oil and liquid
Styrofoam
Metal
Glass
Corks

Also starting Oct. 1, Silverton residents will see an increase in their garbage bill, with most customers seeing a $3.60 monthly hike.

Cofer said there are two reasons the garbage rate is being increased.

“The county has increased its disposal rate by 30 percent,” Cofer said. “That disposal cost is passed to the consumer. There also has been a 9 percent increase in operation expenses.”

The current cost for a 20-gallon residential cart is $22.30. It will increase by $1.12 on Oct. 1 to $23.42. A 35-gallon cart will go from $25.50 to $29.10, or a $3.60 increase.

A 65-gallon residential cart increases from $30.85 to $36.09, or a $5.24 monthly increase. A 90-gallon residential cart goes from $33 to $38.61, or a $5.61 increase.

Cofer said the cost of recycling is embedded in the garbage costs.

Silverton City Manager Bob Willoughby said Silverton’s Environmental Management Committee did “some very thoughtful work” on the Republic Services rate request.

“They looked for opportunities to give rate payers an alternative to just paying higher rates,” Willoughby said. 

Reducing waste in the gray garbage can by placing food waste in the green cart, Willoughby said, can provide an opportunity for customers to move to a smaller garbage container.

Willoughby said the increase for the smallest container, the 20 gallon, was 5 percent.  The increase for 35 gallon containers is 14.1 percent. The two largest containers (65 and 90 gallon) were  increased by 17 percent. 

“The intent of this tiered rate increase is to encourage garbage customers to move down to a smaller container,” Willoughby said. 

Residential customers can place their green organic cart at the curbside each week. There will be no additional charge for this service, Willoughby said.

“The EMC will work with Republic Services to make the public aware of these opportunities to keep the rate increase to a minimum for any individual residential household.  By putting more items in both their weekly ‘organic’ container and their bi-weekly recycling container, the rate increase can be kept to a minimum,” Willoughby said. 

Cofer said anyone interested in reducing the size of their garbage container can call Republic Services, 503-981-1278.

“The more you can do to reduce your garbage, the less money you will be spending,” Cofer said. “You can go to a bi-monthly pickup or reduce the size of your cart.”

He also remonds community members they can take their recycling – including batteries, glass and paper – to the city of Silverton’s Public Works Yard every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. . The yard is located just off Silverton Road at 830 McClaine St.

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