SALEM (AP) - A new estimate of recycling in Oregon has spared manufacturers more stringent requirements for plastic bottles and containers.
In December the Department of Environmental Quality said that the plastic recycling rate had dropped below 25 percent, as measured by an estimate for 2005.
That made manufacturers unhappy. They would have had to increase the recycled content of their bottles, use bottles made of materials that are recycled at a rate of more than 25 percent or use bottles that can be refilled at least five times.
But Tuesday, the department said new information and corrections changed the 2005 recycling rate to 25.3 percent, three-tenths of a percentage point above the threshold. It said it estimates the rate for 2007 to be the same.
"Obviously, we are ... pleased that the recalculation shows we are not in immediate jeopardy," said Pat McCormick of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Food Products Association.
The department said its samples at sorting facilities incorrectly judged the amount of plastic recycled and that a private recycling company misreported 500 tons of rigid plastic containers. It said it expected new, larger recycling bins in Beaverton, Gresham, Forest Grove and Hillsboro to push up the recycling rate this year.
Peter Spendelow, an analyst at DEQ, said estimating recycling rates is so complicated it takes state experts almost two years to analyze the numbers they receive from recyclers, sorting facilities and garbage haulers.
A recycling advocate said quibbling over a percentage point or two misses the larger picture.
"Somewhere around a quarter of our plastics are getting recycled right now, and that is unacceptable," said Jeremiah Baumann of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. "The reality is that 25 percent is a pretty low threshold, and plastics recycling is on the decline in Oregon. And that is why it is so important that we do things like expand the bottle bill and improve recycling programs."
