Clackamas County, OR Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum frequency
- Weekly curbside collection required
- Coverage area
- Inside the urban growth boundary
- Who must comply
- Collection Service Franchise holders
- Oversight body
- 7-member Solid Waste Commission
- Non-compliance remedy
- Franchise suspension or revocation
Summary
Franchised haulers serving unincorporated Clackamas County must run weekly curbside recycling routes inside the urban growth boundary under County Code Section 10.03.260(A)(5)(a). The County's seven-member Solid Waste Commission oversees compliance, and a hauler that fails to provide adequate service risks franchise suspension or revocation.
5. Shall provide the opportunity to recycle as follows:
a. Shall provide at least weekly residential on-route curbside/roadside collection of recyclable materials and weekly on-route collection of yard debris within the urban growth boundaries of Clackamas County and cities within the Metropolitan Service District.
b. Shall provide other on-route collection of recyclable materials as required by the County or State law.
c. Shall have the right to compete in the purchase or exchange for fair market value in the collection of commercial/industrial source-separated recyclable materials.
d. Shall design, commit resources, and provide an education, promotion and notification program to enhance recycling awareness and to provide the opportunity to recycle as provided by this chapter and ORS Chapter 459 or 459A and the rules promulgated thereunder.
e. Shall report to the County on recycling activities and supply all necessary information for purposes of preparing the D.E.Q. or METRO recycling report.
f. At the request of a permit holder shall haul any load of recyclable materials collected by the permit holder to a legally established utilization facility and may charge a fee pursuant to 10.03.330 to cover the cost of this service. The franchisee shall remit to the permit holders all revenue derived from the sale of this material at the utilization facility.
Full Breakdown
03 to collect garbage, recyclables and yard debris in the unincorporated area. 260(A)(5)(d) and (e): they must design and fund an education, promotion and notification program to build recycling awareness, and they must report recycling activity to the County to support the DEQ and METRO recycling reports required under ORS Chapter 459 or 459A. 260. 090, which includes the Director of the Department of Transportation and Development, the Health Officer, three public members and two Collection Service Franchise holders.
Violations & Fines
Individual residents are not fined for recycling errors under this section; the enforcement lever runs against the hauler. Under Section 10.03.270, the Commission investigates complaints and, if it finds a violation of the chapter, notifies the franchise holder in writing of the steps needed to cure it. Under Section 10.03.280, the Board of County Commissioners may suspend, modify, revoke, or refuse to renew a franchise that willfully violates the chapter, and any such action takes effect no sooner than 30 days after the order unless there is an immediate danger to public health; the franchise holder may request a hearing before the Board within that 30-day window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Clackamas County require weekly recycling pickup?
Who runs recycling collection in unincorporated Clackamas County?
What happens if my hauler stops picking up recycling?
Is business recycling handled the same way as residential?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clackamas County
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