The City of The Dalles, Oregon announced expanded curbside recycling service on March 30, made possible by funding from Circular Action Alliance (CAA) Oregon. This makes it the first community in the state to expand curbside recycling access using producer funding available through the state’s Recycling Modernization Act, which is a landmark Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law.
The Dalles is 75 miles east of Portland in northern Oregon. Along the Columbia River, the population is 16,010 as of the 2020 census. The city is now rolling out nearly 5,000 new 90-gallon recycling carts to customers at no cost through The Dalles Disposal, a company that provides waste management services to residents and businesses in Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties in Oregon.
The new carts are about six times larger than the previously available curbside recycling bins (14-gallon totes), providing more room for the expanded list of recyclables that took effect in August 2025. The carts are being paired with an education and outreach campaign, telling customers what’s changing and how to recycle correctly.
The new carts “will accommodate more material, some of which are larger containers,” said Jim Winterbottom, District Manager of The Dalles Disposal. “This will make it safer to service with a side-load truck.” In a statement, Winterbottom called the rollout “a milestone moment for our community.”
The effort is supported by Oregon’s EPR program, which requires brands and companies that supply packaging and paper products to help fund improvements to the state’s recycling system. CAA, the nonprofit Producer Responsibility Organization selected by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to implement the program, gave more than $200,000 to The Dalles Disposal to purchase the new recycling carts.
“The Dalles rollout is a concrete example of how EPR policy works,” said Alex Bertolucci, Oregon Communications Manager for CAA. “It can be difficult for smaller, more rural communities to fund improvements on their own. So we are able to make upgrades that really weren’t feasible or realistic before EPR was here.”
Each customer in The Dalles is going to get an information packet that has lists of recyclable items at the curb, a calendar of pickup days, and items that can be taken to the local transfer stations in lieu of curbside pickup. For additional recycling guidance, residents can visit RecycleOn.org/Oregon.
The new carts “give households the space they need to recycle more stuff,” said Bertolucci. They will reduce overflow and better protect the contents from the weather. “Removing those small but real barriers leads to a natural increase in participation,” said Bertolucci.
The program in The Dalles is the first step toward a much larger investment that will put more than 150,000 new recycling carts across Oregon by the end of 2027, Bertolucci noted.
Items accepted in The Dalles new recycling carts include:
• Plastic bottles, jugs, tubs, buckets and rigid nursery pots (2 inches by 2 inches
or larger). Caps are accepted if screwed on.
• Flattened cardboard, packaging boxes, food and beverage cartons, and pizza
boxes free of food.
• Paper, including newspapers, magazines, office paper, mail, paper bags, egg
cartons, paperback books and non-metallic gift wrap.
• Metal cans and small scrap metal (less than 10 pounds and 18 inches).
“A lot of recycling comes down to the basics,” said Bertolucci. “If it is easy and convenient people are more likely to participate.”
