Tag: Trash

Community, Infrastructure

BPS Completes NE Portland Public Trash Can Rollout

Last month, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) installed trash cans throughout NE Portland, including parts of Montavilla. This latest rollout is part of a multi-year expansion of the City-managed rubbish collection program that started in 2017 with the Jade District. In 2016, Portland City Council voted to expand the city’s public trash can program into underserved areas and increase the solid waste commercial tonnage fee by $1.30 to fund the program.

Because Montavilla spans Northeast and Southeast Portland, the phased rollout of public trash cans occurred in different years. The neighborhood first received new rubbish receptacles south of E Burnside Street in December 2021. A year later, BPS crews began delivering cans to locations in North Montavilla. BPS staff placed units in high-traffic corridors along NE 82nd Avenue and NE Glisan Street. The intersection of E Burnside Street and 82nd Avenue gained three new cans. That addition brings the total to four trash enclosures, including the existing TriMet-owned can on the southeast corner. NE Glisan Street and NE 82nd Avenue also received multiple units adjacent to the bus shelters. Crews installed the remaining Montavilla cans in places identified as problem areas during a 2022 community survey. With trash can expansion work now covering all areas East of the Willamette River, BPS will spend the next two years increasing unit count in Northwest, South, and Southwest Portland.

The density of public trash cans is still insufficient on many streets, and littering will continue. However, this expansion is a significant push forward by the City to provide basic infrastructure for Portland’s residents. Trash cans alone will not prevent street trash, but they will reduce the overall volume of improperly discarded items and make it easier for civic-minded people clean public spaces. Look for the new cans already on the street and report any overflowing cans or other problems online to 311, by phone (503-823-4000), or by email (311@portlandoregon.gov).

BPS created map of NE Portland cans cropped to highlight Montavilla

By

Jacob Loeb

Correction (March 16th, 2023): The original version of this article indicated that BPS completed its trash can expansion. The city will continue adding new cans in other areas over the next two years.

Community, Infrastructure

Public Trash Cans Coming to NE Portland

The next wave of public trash cans will hit Portland’s streets early in 2023 as new receptacles arrive from the manufacturer. A year ago, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) installed trash cans throughout SE Portland, including parts of Montavilla. Now city staff are preparing for the NE expansion and need the public’s help in determining the placement of those rubbish containers. People can take the online survey now but must submit their entries by Monday, December 19th.

In 2016, the Portland City Council authorized an expansion of the public trash program through a tax on the solid waste commercial tonnage fee. By June 2017, Portland’s Jade District received new waste receptacles as part of a pilot program. In 2020, East Portland neighborhoods began receiving new trash cans. By 2023, the BPS will have added 150 new City-provided and serviced trash cans to NE Portland, bringing the total available receptacles in the quadrant to 215.

Trash can delivery, image courtesy BPS

Each 65-gallon trash can stands 4.5 feet tall and has a three-by-three-foot footprint. On narrow sidewalks, BPS will deploy a smaller 35-gallon can. Many units have a side attachment for beverage bottles, making them accessible to community members looking to collect the deposit. The City intends to contract with a woman or minority-owned trash hauler to empty the containers twice a week.

When suggesting locations for the new cans, BPS staff remind participants that trash cans must reside on public sidewalks and cannot be placed in parking lots or other private property. They also want to prioritize natural gathering spaces near businesses, schools, and intersections.

BPS map showing potential trash can placement

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Community, Infrastructure

Public Trash Cans Coming to SE

This fall, Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) is installing 182 new public trash cans throughout Southeast Portland. The cans are emptied twice a week, paid for by the City. From now until August 1st, city staff requests that residents and people working in the area complete a can placement survey.

Last year, Montavilla News and the Montavilla Neighborhood Association conducted a similar survey. The results from that initiative are already submitted to BPS and do not require resubmittal. Data collected now will include areas beyond the neighborhood boundaries to encompass E Burnside Street to SE Clatsop Street and the Willamette River to I205.

Area receiving trash cans this fall

Within the brief survey, participants can drop multiple pins where they think BPS should place new cans. There is also an opportunity to ask for specific areas to be exempt from trash can placement and provide additional comments. When completing the survey, participants can choose to subscribe to a project-updates email list.

With a limited number of trash receptacles available for the Southeast, it’s essential to use local knowledge to place cans where they will receive the most use. Northeast Portland is slated as the next trash can expansion area, rolling out just a few months after Southeast. Look for a similar survey for that area later this summer.

Montavilla Neighborhood Association’s submitted can placement map

Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the MNA Board

Infrastructure, Services

Reporting Dumped Garbage

We have all seen piles of trash dumped on the street or sidewalk in our neighborhood. Perhaps it has been in front of your house or business. This can be frustrating and a blight on the public areas. Fortunately Portland cares about it as much as we do and they have a way of reporting these trash dumps online.

Metro RID Patrol is the service that wants to hear about the abandoned trash. They can be contacted at 503-234-3000 or online. Some good citizens will clean up small items around the neighborhood, and we all thank you, but know that some items are too big and too dangerous. If there is a stockpile of needles or other sharp items, Metro RID Patrol is your safest option.

Metro RID Patrol’s dashboard is another great data visualization tool that Portlanders have at their disposal. There you can see the average crew response time and the tonnage of waste collected. It can be easy to think that we can not keep up on the trash being spread around our streets, but if we report it, we stand a good chance of keeping clean.