LOSN Materials Management Team Tours EFI Recycling Separation Facility

Photo of a Republic Services facility

Written by Jim Newcomer, LOSN Materials Management Team

On March 20, 2025, I was one of three members of our LOSN Materials Management Team that toured the EFI Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) on Swan Island. The MRF is where Republic Services, our trash hauler in Lake Oswego, takes the commingled recyclables that you put out on the curb weekly in your recycling can. For most of us, once Republic Services picks that can up and dumps it into their truck, it just disappears.

In the real world, Republic hauls the contents of our cans to the MRF on Swan Island, drives across the scale and sells by the pound to EFI Recycling, the company that runs the MRF.  EFI separates the materials into separate streams of cardboard, paper, milk cartons, bottles, cans and so forth and, in turn, bales them and sells the separated materials to the companies that turn them into new products – paper and cardboard mills, metal foundries and forges, and plastics manufacturers.

While at the Swan Island facility, we watched a Republic truck drive over the scale and dump its load on the paved floor in the entry. EFI weighed the load, determined payment, then shoved the dumped mix into the hopper to begin the long, messy, complicated process of separating the contents. At the end of the process, they bale the separated materials and sell them to companies that recycle each material – i.e., OCC (Old Corrugated Cardboard) and paper products to pulp mills, tin cans to a steel manufacturer, and glass bottles to a glass recycler on North Columbia Blvd. I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see that. 

The Tour

We walked into the office and met Jeff Murray, marketing manager, who welcomed and briefed us on their operations – and cautioned us with safety tips – then gave each of us a hard hat and a safety vest. Only then could we set out into the yard. 

It was a challenging tour on two counts. The physical part came first, as we climbed up ladders, crept along narrow catwalks and constantly ducked to avoid protruding motors and blocks. The second was understanding what we were seeing. 

Consider the facility and its paved drive-in lot cover more than a city block with a loud, shaking, confusing array of conveyors, blowers, belts and bins two stories high. It includes sorters, both automatic and human, as well as moving conveyor belts, wheels with spaced holes, blowers to lift the plastic up and out, and walkways along picking lines where people stood plucking weird items out as fast as they could as the mix rushed by on a wide belt. It is all carefully designed, of course, and it follows a logical progression from removing the cardboard to the dumping roller at the end of the last belt that disposes of the material that didn’t belong in the mix, the waste. 

The crisscrossing layers pile above one another in a noisy, fast-moving jumble of large machinery, so that as we climbed ladders, walked catwalks, descended steel stairs, and ducked under things, we were trying all the while to hear our guide over the din. 

At the end of each process, each of the separated materials except the glass was bound up in six feet square bales – cardboard, cans, office paper, milk cartons, etc. – to be shipped off to their respective factories for remanufacturing.

EFI’s Business Model Reinforces Sustainability

It was a great experience, capped off by a conversation in the office in which Jeff explained their business model. EFI, he explained, buys from several haulers in the Portland region, including our Lake Oswego hauler, Republic, but it’s not a certainty. There’s competition from other MRFs to get their loads, so that they must pay top dollar for what they buy. In turn, they sell the separated materials to their customers, the recycling manufacturers, for competitive prices that depend on the shifting market prices for recycled materials as well as the amount of contamination in  their streams; that is, how much trash remains in the separated material. EFI proudly claims that they sell the purest product in our region – on average less than 8% contamination in a load. 

That means that of all the stuff you put in your mixed recyclables can, only 8% doesn’t get turned into new products. 

One truth came through in all our conversations as well as from the process we observed: the utter dedication of EFI to recycling and sustainability. All the employees we talked with had come to EFI from other recycling companies or programs in schools and nonprofits. They are focused on producing clean, uncontaminated bales of materials that they can sell at good prices to companies that will reprocess them and get them back into circulation as remanufactured goods. Indeed, their livelihoods depend on it.

With corrugated cardboard cartons (called OCC) and the poly-coated milk and soup cartons produced by Tetra Pak, of course, producing a pure stream is relatively easy. The material has high value, is easy to separate and can be recycled over and over without weakening the fibers. The cardboard mills that take the OCC can also accept a certain amount of ordinary office paper in the mix they buy without ruining their end products. Office paper is a little more demanding, but still not too picky. Cans can be separated using magnets.

But plastic bottles? They’re demanding. Most of the bottles we can recycle are blow-molded, but even within that limitation there are variations and each must be steered into a separate stream. Designating each type means much more than reading a number in the chasing arrows. The way the container was produced, for example, blow molded or thermo-formed, determines the way it can be recycled – the temperature and the mixes in the product, for example. More complex, manufacturers tend to mix in special additives to give their plastic special qualities, and each additive makes a separate category as well. A small amount of incompatible material can spoil a whole shipment. So EFI strives to deal only with the blow-molded bottles that belong in the curbside mix. Most Important: they can’t afford not to produce quality material with low contamination.

One unexpected measure of EFI’s dedication to environmental values is their pride in a small item that a casual visitor would never spot but that they spent over a million dollars to dig: the bioswale along the street beside them.  They dug it a few years ago along the low edge of their lot to catch and hold the run-off. It guarantees that the rainwater running off their paved lot goes into the ground rather than into a sewer, where it would end up polluting the nearby river.

Future Plans with the New Recycling Law

We plan to return to EFI in six or eight months to see what changes they have made as a result of funds they receive when the new Extended Recycling Act goes into effect in Oregon next month. 

A Personal Note: Having served one year as Executive Director of the Washington State Recycling Association, I am especially interested in this operation and in the effects of the new law. It will require the plastic manufacturers to pay into a nonprofit that will use the funds to support recyclers as well as – I think, I hope – to take back a certain amount of their products for reuse. The payments from the plastics manufacturers should enable recyclers to invest in improvements in machinery and capacity. 

When the new law begins to take effect next month (July 1), we all hope that ordinary residents like us will be offered the opportunity to recycle a gradually wider range of plastics in our curbside cans, and the manufacturers will be motivated to use a narrower range of materials in their plastic packaging. We’re looking forward to the day, and we’ll share what we learn as the New Law unfolds.

Urban Forest Summit and healthy yard tips for fall

October 2024

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6th Annual Urban Forest Summit:

A Healthy Urban Forest – What You Can Do

Saturday, November 2, 9 am – 12:30 pm

Lake Oswego United Methodist Church

1855 South Shore Blvd, Lake Oswego

You are invited to attend the 6th annual Urban Forest Summit. This is an opportunity to expand your arboreal knowledge, discuss the importance of a healthy, interconnected urban ecological system and share opportunities to maintain and support the health of the urban forest.

This year’s agenda will include an update on the City of Lake Oswego Community and Urban Forestry Plan, information on tree care and maintenance, understanding our urban forest from floor to canopy, and best practices for native plant landscaping. We’ll be exploring how we can care for our urban forest, individually and collectively.

The opening speakers will be Jack Halsey, Executive Director of the OLWC, Jessica Numanoglu, Community Development Director for the City of Lake Oswego, and Scott Altenhoff, Manager of the Urban and Community Forestry Program at the Oregon Department of Forestry. They will be followed by the following panelists: Caitlin Pope Daum, Principal Landscape Architect at Studio Wild, Ian Hunter, founder and owner of Phoenix Habitats, and Leah Puhlman, Master Gardener Oregon State University Extension.

The Urban Forest Summit is presented by the Oswego Lake Watershed Council in partnership with the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network.

For more information and to register: oswegowatershed.org

Learn more about and register for the Urban Forest Summit

Leave the Leaves… and other sustainable gardening ideas for fall

Leave the Leaves:

  • If they fall in garden beds let them stay in place.
  • Place leaves from your walkways and hardscape into your garden beds.
  • If they fall on your lawn use an electric lawn mower to chop them up and let them stay in place. By spring, all of the leaves will disintegrate into a leaf duff, which is just another name for natural compost.

Leave the flowers:

  • Birds will come to eat the seeds.
  • Wait until early spring to cut back your perennials to maximize winter food for birds and small mammals.

Leave the berries and other fruit on shrubs and trees.

Leave small branches and twigs – they provide good food for fungi. They will also disintegrate into the leaf duff.

ELECTRIFY YOUR LANDSCAPING AND HEALTHY YARD CARE

It’s Clean, It’s Quiet, It’s Healthy

Candidate Forum

Lake Oswego candidate forum

Do you want to hear about what our Lake Oswego candidates think about accelerating the implementation of the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, banning gas-powered leaf blowers and other sustainability and equity questions? This forum was held on October 7 and was hosted by Respond to Racism and the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network. Here is the YouTube link to the Candidate Forum: https://www.youtube.com/live/sPVqkuKB1jQ

We experienced difficulty in the audio recording and the sound begins at the 18:45 mark.

Lake Oswego Repair Fair Coming November 16

Please join us at our upcoming Lake Oswego Repair Fair on November 16 from 10 am – 1 pm.  For more information on upcoming Clackamas County Repair Fairs.

Backyard Habitat Certification Story

Submitted by Monica Delzeit

Rachel Carson saw it coming 60 years ago. As a medical professional, I see our number one public health concern as the climate crisis. No other public health concern will affect us all. After retiring, I felt that I could add to my love of gardening and include all the portions of the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. Despite my orthopedic issues, I’ve been able to introduce and maintain all five pillars of this program, without much outside help:

monica's yard
  1. Native plants and trees house and feed native insects, birds and mammals that co-evolved with them over geologic time. Co-evolving means that just the right color, sugar composition, height, etc. attracts hundreds of species instead of just the handful that seek out non-native plants and trees.
  2. Noxious weeds have no native predators to keep their growth and spread controlled. In this way, they reduce the biodiversity of native plants and, in turn, the native insects, birds and mammals that rely on these native plants for housing and forage. I want to see more of our charismatic fauna, not less.
  3. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are primarily made in a lab and get into the ground water and bodies of water, adversely affecting native water life and us. Native plants and trees don’t require these chemicals. Our natural environment is all they need.
  4. Stormwater washing over our roofs, driveways, sidewalks and roadways picks up pollutants like your neighbors pesticides, herbicides, motor oil and gasoline, metals and other chemicals. This contaminated water drains into our beautiful rivers and streams, endangering water quality and wildlife. The Backyard Habitat certification program encourages nine possible management actions.
  5. The newest piece to me is wildlife stewardship. This can include keeping cats indoors; keeping a water feature clean for birds, insects and amphibians; nurturing mason bees; putting in a pollinator meadow (if you have a large enough property); leaving leaves, snags and nurse logs; and reducing outdoor lighting during bird migration, among other efforts.

I so enjoyed the sense of community and common sensibilities this program created that I became a certification volunteer in 2021. I’m heartened by the commitment of so many new friends to stewarding out beautiful temperate rain forest in Lake Oswego, and beyond. It gives me hope.

leave the leaves sign

The Humble Habitat Re-Wilding Project

Submitted by Mark & Leah Puhlman

We’ve always loved a project.  When we moved to the Portland Metro area, our housing search brought us to a bank-owned rancher style home on half an acre in Lake Oswego. As you can see from the pictures, we had our work cut out for us.

We quickly learned that transforming a neglected, blackberry and ivy infested half acre is a marathon, not a sprint. We started slow and are still working toward our vision 11 years later.

When we purchased the property there were some rhododendrons and azaleas, a couple of Douglas fir trees—and we were thrilled to find a flourishing Madrone. And lawn. So much lawn. Most of the three sides of the property was lined with six-foot high, 12-foot wide hedges of Himalayan blackberry hedges.

Together, we set out to transform the property into something that was sustainable, friendly to both insect and animal life, and beautiful. Our goals included:

  1. Low maintenance
  2. Areas for outdoor relaxation
  3. A vegetable garden
  4. Plants and features that supported pollinators and birds
  5. Decreased lawn.
Battling Blackberries

Our first task was to rid the property of invasive plant life. The most prevalent species was the Himalayan blackberry but there was also ample English ivy and Creeping buttercup to remove as well. As you can see from the pictures, sometimes the blackberry won and sometimes we won.

Removing most of the blackberries took three years. However, the removal of invasives is never a one-and-done assignment. After eleven years, we’re still pulling out blackberry and ivy found under bushes and in planting areas.

When we retired Leah became a Master Gardener and Mark joined the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network and the Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board. Many of the plants we chose in the first few years were just what was available at local nurseries and big box stores. When we started going for Backyard Habitat certification, we learned so much and found great resources for native plants. We’re still removing our unfortunate choices and replacing them with keystone native plants whenever possible.

Trees are a central element of the garden. Collaborative decision-making regarding tree selection was vital to matrimonial harmony as well as ecologically appropriate decisions. We’ve removed an invasive Norway maple that we planted early on and have replaced a dying, non-native birch tree with a Bigleaf maple – a keystone plant that supports a vast array of pollinators. Up next is removing a Bradford pear, another invasive species, with native Bitter Cherry, Prunus emarginata, another keystone tree.

We continually learn more and as we do, change our decisions and behaviors. The lawn has shrunk to a fraction of its previous size and provides a pathway through the garden and a racecourse for the dogs.  We’ve added a large water feature, routed two downspouts into bioswales, and installed a rain garden in the back yard. As we fill in the bare spots with easy care, drought-tolerant natives, the landscape is becoming less work, uses less water, and provides pleasant habitat for humans and creatures alike.

We have gold certification from Lake Oswego’s EcoHome LO program. We have Silver certification from the Backyard Habitat program and should receive platinum status upon recertification.  We have a National Wildlife Federation certified habitat garden and are registered in The Home-Grown National Park movement  as described in the Douglas Tallamy book “Nature’s Best Hope.” Leah used this book as a guide for her recent Gardening with Wildlife webinar for the Master Gardener program. Every plant purchased these days gets weighed on the scale of the wildlife it will support.

Our “Humble Habitat” garden is a work in progress. We’re learning that each yard can be a powerful tool to protect biodiversity for our rapidly dwindling wildlife. There is no better feeling than to walk out in a yard that is teeming with life, bringing joy to the observer, and restoring a natural balance to our small piece of the world.

Addressing Climate Change through Natural Climate Solutions

LOSN Sustainability Insider

March 2021

LOSN Board Note: This newsletter features sustainability and climate action work led by our partner, the Oswego Lake Watershed Council (OLWC) with our Natural Resources Action Team.

Note: the format of our newsletter has changed. Scroll to the bottom for events and other updates.

Addressing Climate Change through Natural Climate Solutions

Oftentimes when we think about climate change we think of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Yet human contribution to the rise in carbon emissions in the atmosphere is not only due to our burning of fossil fuels, but also in the impoverishment of nature’s ability to absorb carbon in soil, in trees, and other high-carbon ecosystems. The degradation of our lands, including the earth’s fertile agricultural soils, is in itself another massive disaster facing humans. Yet, by looking to nature, we can take actions that can change this trajectory. Natural climate solutions – conservation, restoration, and land management activities – can help revive nature’s ability to sequester and store carbon.  Find out how healthy soils are an intrinsic component of addressing climate change and cooling the earth.

LOSN partners with the Oswego Lake Watershed Council (OLWC) in the goal of protecting our natural resources through the use and promotion of these natural climate solutions. OLWC leads restoration of watershed function on private land while the City works to enhance natural resources and their ecological services on City-owned land.

OLWC also works within the community through the Urban Forest Committees to protect and enhance our urban forest and holds the annual Tree Summit for the community. Additionally, the council is leading the LO Trees Initiative to inventory the urban forest by deploying citizen scientists to help achieve the Lake Oswego Climate Goal of planting or protecting 5000 trees in 5 years.


The Dirt on Trees

We love our trees!  We love their shade, their graceful patterns against the sky and how they store carbon to combat climate change. But where would trees be without their roots? The roots we cannot see but know anchor the beauty towering over us. Where does that stability come from? The soil into which the trees reach. What do we know about that soil? Do we just take it for granted?  It’s always there!

That soil is as important to the health of our trees as the air is to the trees making food. The air supplies the carbon for tree leaves to make the food and structural building blocks to keep the tree alive and growing. An important part of that process (known as photosynthesis) also requires water that is extracted from the soil by the tree roots. But that soil does so much more than anchor the tree and provide water – it also supplies all of the minerals and other nutrients (particularly nitrogen) trees need to live.


Dirt via University of Oklahoma, Citizen Science Soil Collection Program

For many years soil scientists thought of soil as an inanimate object composed of ground up rocks. But that is only half of the story. The other half of soil is air, water, and organic matter which includes a multitude of living organisms. The living, biological component includes microbes, mycorrhizal fungi, insects  and worms. Most of which are too small to see with the naked eye. This living component of soil is the key to healthy, fertile soil. This unseen living system breaks down the soil to supply minerals, capture nitrogen from the air, and create spaces for water and air. Without this living component soil just doesn’t work properly. Tree roots are also an important part of this system since plants actually take some of the food they make in the form of sugars and pump it into soil to feed these organisms. This is an interactive system where the biotic components provide nutrients and plant roots provide food for these organisms.

When we use pesticides and artificial fertilizers we kill off these living organisms and destroy this interactive system. Artificial fertilizers actually make the tree roots lazy and they stop expanding and feeding the soil. You probably noticed some large trees planted in the middle of the lawn at an apartment complex along Boones Ferry Road that had fallen over in the ice storm. Their roots just couldn’t support them with the extra ice. There is a good chance that lawn receives artificial fertilizers and the roots just stopped growing.

We all benefit from understanding natural systems and supporting natural processes. Get to know your dirt! Join us for the Soil Your Undies activities in April!


Soil Your Undies Campaign – Spring 2021

Check out the upcoming activities to learn more about soil.

April 8 – LOSN Monthly Forum: The Soil Will Save Us
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Speaker: Kristin Ohlson – Registration link below

April 22 – Get To Know Your Dirt – online workshop
Time: 5:00 to 6:30 pm
Presenter: Oswego Lake Watershed Council
Venue:  Online Zoom
Summary: Explore what makes up healthy soil and how your gardening practices can support building your soil heath and help sequester CO2.

April 24 – Soil Your Undies Kickoff
Pick up a free pair of 100% tighty whities at either Lake Oswego or Lakeridge High School between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Limited to 200 participants. Pre-registration required. More information at www.oswegowatershed.org.

July 7 – Reveal Your Undies
We will get together on Wednesday July 7th to show our undies and discuss the results. We hope we will be able to meet in person! Details will be announced on the OLWC website.


April is Arbor Month in Lake Oswego

April is Arbor month, and we will be celebrating trees and our urban forest all month long! Join in the festivities throughout the month capped by a celebration on Arbor Day, April 30th.

Lake Oswego has a diverse urban forest and has been a member of Tree City USA for over 30 years! This means that individual trees throughout the city connect to create an urban forest system that provides countless benefits to the community. Do you love Lake Oswego’s trees and want to make a difference? OLWC is encouraging the community to celebrate Arbor Month 2021 by working together to preserve our urban forest.

OLWC is sponsoring a community event throughout the month where you can be an urban forest hero by protecting your neighborhood trees from ivy. Check out how this works here.

The city’s next Hello LO will have more information about all the Arbor month activities. Or check the OLWC Arbor Month webpage at the beginning of April for additional Arbor Month activities.


LOSN Interfaith Coffee: Join Us in a Conversation with Councilor Massene Mboup

Date: Tuesday, March 16th, 2021
Time: 10-11:30 am
Where: on Zoom

Description: Not only is Massene our newest Lake Oswego City Councilor, he has an incredible journey and perspective to share. Hear Massene talk about his life in Senegal, his journey to Lake Oswego, and his appreciation for the Earth. We are so grateful for Massene agreeing to join us and we hope you will join as well!  

Councilor Mboup, who has lived in Oregon for over twenty years and in Lake Oswego since 2011, is the founder and Executive Director of the International Leadership Academy (ILA), a private, nonprofit French immersion school located in the heart of Lake Grove on Boones Ferry Road in the Hope Community Church.


April Online Forum: The Soil Will Save Us

Speaker:  Kristin Ohlson, Author, The Soil Will Save Us
When: Thursday, April 8, 2021
Time:  6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where:  on Zoom

Did you know that good old dirt could help solve the carbon crisis?  Thousands of years of poor farming and ranching practices – and, especially, modern industrial agriculture – have led to the loss of up to 80 percent of carbon from the world’s soils.

Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us, will present her passionate case for “our great green hope” – a way in which we can heal the land, turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon, and potentially reverse global warming – through regenerative agricultural and landscaping practices.

In her talk, Ohlson introduces some of the visionaries from her beautifully researched book. She shares stories from scientists, farmers, ranchers, and landscapers—who are figuring out in the lab and on the ground how to build healthy soil including the herd of microorganisms that escape our notice. Better land management practices, that lead to healthy soils, can help solve a myriad of problem: including drought, erosion, air and water pollution, and food quality, as well as climate change. Join in on April 8 to discover a whole new world beneath our feet.

To learn more about our speaker please visit her website: http://www.kristinohlson.com.


May Online Forum: Transitioning to Electric Landscaping Equipment

Speaker:  Dan Mabe, CEO, President of American Green Zone Alliance
When: Thursday, May 13, 2021
Time:  6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where:  Webinar on Zoom

Learn about how communities are moving toward pollution free, all electric landscaping equipment and services.

Come hear from Dan Mabe, CEO, President of American Green Zone Alliance, talk about how we can transition from gas powered landscaping equipment to all electric powered equipment which helps to reduce air and noise pollution.

To learn more about our speaker and American Green Zone Alliance please visit agza.net.