Answer. This question is best answered by contacting your own legal counsel familiar with the local Junction City and Harrisburg ordinances. However, this is an important topic and warrants being addressed to MHCO Members generally on a statewide basis.
Introduction. A shortage of landfill space encouraged the Oregon legislature to pass the Opportunity to Recycle Act in 1983. The law established solid waste management policies that focused on the environmental benefits of waste prevention, reuse, and recycling. The law also required wastesheds[1] to have recycling depots and cities with populations over 4,000 to provide monthly curbside recycling collection service to all garbage service customers.
The 1991 Oregon Recycling Act (SB 66) set a statewide recovery goal of 50 percent by 2000 and required that DEQ conduct regular waste composition studies and develop a solid waste management plan. In 2011, DEQ convened a workgroup to help develop a long-term management plan in Oregon. In June 2015, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 263.
Oregon Laws. Remember, most governmental entities forget to include manufactured housing specifically when enacting legislation for rental housing. Generally, if they do anything, it is similar to what the Oregon legislature did years ago; they simply define a single manufactured housing space (excluding the home) to be equivalent to a single-family residential property (i.e., house and land). Ergo, “one housing unit” = “one manufactured housing space.” With that in mind, today, Oregon landlords are generally required to provide:
- Recycling Containers: Onsite containers that are appropriately sized for the expected volume of materials.
- Regular Collection: Consistent collection service for source-separated recyclable materials.
- Tenant Education: Landlord notice must be provided at the time of move-in and at least once a year thereafter. This notice must describe the location of containers and how to recycle correctly.
- Landlords with five or more units (aka “manufactured housing spaces”) must provide tenants with on-site recycling containers, regular collection service, and annual education on how to recycle.
Tenants are responsible for disposing of waste in a clean, safe, and legal manner as per their rental agreement. They may not place hazardous waste (paint, chemicals) or electronics (TVs, computers) in standard garbage or recycling bins.
The specifics of Oregon’s recycling law are contained in ORS 90.318:
1. In a city or the county within the urban growth boundary of a city that has implemented multifamily recycling service, a landlord who has five or more residential dwelling units on a single premises or five or more manufactured dwellings in a single facility shall at all times during tenancy provide to all tenants:
(a) A separate location for containers or depots for materials designated for recycling collection on the uniform statewide collection list established under ORS 459A.914 (Uniform statewide collection list), adequate to hold the reasonably anticipated volume of each material;
(b) Regular collection service of the source separated recyclable materials; and
(c) Notice at least once a year of the opportunity to recycle with a description of the location of the containers or depots on the premises and information about how to recycle. New tenants shall be notified of the opportunity to recycle at the time of entering into a rental agreement.
(2) As used in this section, “recyclable material” and “source separate” have the meaning given those terms in ORS 459.005 (Definitions for ORS 459.005 to 459.437, 459.705 to 459.790 and 459A.005 to 459A.665). [1991 c.385 §16; 2021 c.681 §57]. Portland specifically requires landlords of all rental sizes (1-4 units and 5+ units) to pay for and arrange weekly recycling and compost services. (Emphasis added.)
Under the Oregon Residential Landlord Tenant Act (“ORLTA”) the applicable statutes dealing with garbage services are intertwined with the general submetering laws at ORS 90.560 – ORS 90.584. As with all of these statutes relating to utility pass-through laws, landlords must be very careful to avoid assessment errors both in their governance documents and methodology for calculation. There are some attorneys who would like nothing better than to file a class action complaint against a landlord for errors.
In the Recycling Modernization Act (2021), Oregon updated its recycling system. According to its website:
“…system-wide update will make recycling easier for the public to use, expand access to recycling services, upgrade the facilities that sort recyclables, and create environmental benefits while reducing social and environmental harms, such as plastic pollution. Producers and manufacturers of packaged items, paper products and food serviceware will pay for many of these necessary improvements and help ensure recycling is successful in Oregon.”
City of Portland. Being the 800-pound gorilla, Portland believes it has a better solution for its citizens. Accordingly, it, along with many other Oregon cities, have their own ordinances, some of which are more restrictive. See, City Ordinance, Chapter 17.102 Solid Waste & Recycling Collection. Owners of a residential rentals (aka “manufactured housing spaces”) consisting of four or fewer units (single-family, duplex, triplex, fourplex) are required by City Code 29.30.140 to set up and pay for garbage, recycling, and compost collection service. Bills must be in the landlord’s name and sent to them, not the tenant. Rental properties are assigned a garbage and recycling company and rates and service options are set by the City. Garbage containers may be larger but there must be at least one 20-gallon roll cart for a single-family house, 60-gallon roll cart for a duplex or triplex, and 90-gallon roll cart for a fourplex. Portland also controls container sizes (and colors) for recycling materials. Landlords are not prohibited from recouping these costs from their tenants.
Conclusion. Oregon contains substantial website information for its required programs, as do municipalities. Community management is encouraged to verify that their rental agreements and rules are consistent with the applicable governmental program. If they are not, they should be modified to conform. This is invariably the landlord’s legal duty, and noncompliance can result in costly monthly fines from the jurisdiction, and possibly claims by the tenant. ORS 90.566 permits landlords to unilaterally modify their rental agreements for this service, although there are advance notice requirements.
Resources:
- Recycling Modernization Act Information for Local Governments: https://www.portland.gov/bps/garbage-recycling/about-garbage-and-recycling/recycling-modernization-act
- Portland Recycling: https://www.portland.gov/bps/garbage-recycling/recycling
- DEQ: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/recycling/pages/default.aspx
- Recycling and Waste Reduction: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/displayDivisionRules.action?selectedDivision=1487
[1] A “wasteshed” is a designated area within a state that shares a common solid waste disposal system or is an app- ropriate region for managing solid waste. It is often used to measure recycling rates and manage disposal capacity. See, https://www.oregon.gov/deq/recycling/Documents/Wastesheds.pdf.
