Bend, OR Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Under Bend Code § 11.16.120(M), "All customers of franchisees shall use reasonable efforts to separate recyclable matter from solid waste and set out the recyclable matter in designated recyclable containers." The section defines recyclable matter as materials the franchisee accepts as part of its curbside recycling program, meaning the list of what counts as recyclable is set by whichever franchisee serves the address, Republic Services north of the citywide boundary described in § 11.16.060 or Cascade Disposal, Inc./Waste Connections, Inc. to the south. The requirement sits inside the broader public-responsibility rules of § 11.16.120, which also direct that recyclables placed for collection go into the container the franchisee supplies (subsection G) and bar anyone but the generator, a City officer, or a franchisee employee from removing material from a container once it is out (subsection B).

Chapter purpose language in § 11.16.020(C) states the City regulates solid waste service in part to "conserve energy and material resources, reduce solid wastes and promote material and energy recovery in all forms," which is the policy basis for the mandatory separation duty in § 11.16.120(M). Franchisees report on recycling volumes and program updates to the City Council at least every three years under § 11.16.080(A)(6).