Clackamas County, OR Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Clackamas County does not run its own trash trucks: it franchises private haulers under Chapter 10.03 to collect garbage, recyclables and yard debris in the unincorporated area. Section 10.03.260(A)(5)(a) requires every Collection Service Franchise holder to "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." The chapter defines RECYCLABLE MATERIAL, at Section 10.03.030(52), as "any material or group of materials that can be collected and sold for recycling at a net cost equal to or less than the cost of collection and disposal of the same materials." Franchisees also carry ongoing duties under Section 10.03.260(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.

A separate Business Recycling Requirement at Section 10.03.145 obligates commercial premises to source-separate paper, cardboard, glass, metal cans and plastic bottles and to post recycling instructions, but the weekly curbside pickup mandate for households runs through Section 10.03.260. The program is overseen by the seven-member Solid Waste Commission created under Section 10.03.090, which includes the Director of the Department of Transportation and Development, the Health Officer, three public members and two Collection Service Franchise holders.