Rogue Disposal & Recycling offers new opportunities for local recycling

MEDFORD, OR — In response to the recycling crisis brought on by China’s crackdown on imported recyclable materials from the US, Rogue Disposal & Recycling is offering local residents an opportunity to recycle a limited list of materials at public drop-off points. “We have found that there are domestic markets for a short list of materials – as long as we can collect and ship them as separate, clean material streams,” says Laura Leebrick from Rogue Disposal & Recycling. The short list of materials Leebrick is referring to are Cardboard, Newspaper, Milk Jugs, Tin & Aluminum Cans, and Glass Bottles & Jars, and as of December 4th, these materials can be dropped off at the public recycling depot located at Rogue Transfer & Recycling in White City, at 8001 Table Rock Road. For more information about days and hours of operation, you can visit their website at: www.roguedisposal.com, or call (541) 779-4161.

In addition to the changes to what can be accepted at Rogue Transfer & Recycling, the company has also been working with local grocery stores who have offered to host public drop off locations for Glass Bottles & Jars. Denise Barnes, Rogue Disposal’s Recycling Education & Community Outreach Coordinator, notes that “glass bottles and jars have become a problem material in the curbside commingle stream, and are now considered a contaminant by recycling processors. The good news is that we have a local market for glass, as long as it can be collected clean, and separated from other materials.” Rogue Disposal is able to direct the glass to a beneficial use right here in the Rogue Valley, by crushing it and using it in place of rock to line gas collection trenches at Dry Creek Landfill.
As for the additional glass drop off points, Barnes says that “we are fortunate to have found such outstanding community partners in Ray’s Food Place, and Sherm’s, who have generously offered to host these new Glass Drop Off locations.” Rogue Disposal is encouraging customers not to place glass in their red lid carts, and to use the new Glass Drop Off locations instead.

New Glass Bottles & Jars Drop-off Locations:

  • Ray’s Food Place, 735 N. Main Street in Phoenix
  • Ray’s Food Place, 401 5th Street in Jacksonville
  • Ray’s Food Place, 126 E. Pine Street in Central Point
  • Sherm’s Thunderbird, 2347 W. Main Street in West Medford
  • Sherm’s Food 4 Less, 2230 Biddle Road in East Medford
  • Rogue Transfer & Recycling, 8001 Table Rock Road in White City

Rogue Disposal’s Laura Leebrick sums up the company’s decision to create and promote these new recycling options by sharing that “we wanted to provide some options for people who want to make sure that their recyclables find a home – and preferably a stable one. The trade-off is that it takes a bit more effort than just dropping it into a curbside cart.”

As to the fate of its popular curbside recycling program, Rogue Disposal has stated that what is acceptable in the curbside programs is also likely to change within a few months, and that they will keep their customers informed as changes are being considered and implemented.

Rogue Disposal & Recycling

Call us at (541) 779-4161, or visit our website at: www.roguedisposal.com