Metro presents 20-year regional facilities plan; proposes converting Metro South to community drop-off depot, estimates $273 million cost

Metro officials briefed the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners on March 18 on a draft 20-year Regional System Facilities Plan that lays out a strategy to expand public recycling, reuse and waste-transfer capacity across the Portland metro region.

Metro’s waste prevention and environmental services director, Martha McGuire, told commissioners the plan responds to an aging system and uneven access to services: "This is a 20 year plan" that aims to improve access to affordable drop-off locations and reduce waste sent to landfill, including changes at facilities located in Clackamas County such as Metro South.

The draft plan proposes four investment areas: community drop-off depots, reuse and repair facilities, organics processing and upgrades to commercial transfer stations. SD Siegel, a principal planner at Metro, summarized the approach: "The draft plan . . . aims to enhance public and commercial facilities, food waste processing and support reuse and repair organizations over the next 20 years." Metro’s modeling envisions six community depots distributed to reduce drive times and expand access in under-served areas.

Metro said it would repurpose, over time, its two commercial transfer stations to focus on services that private haulers struggle to provide — notably self-haul residential customers and organic transfer services. That includes a proposed conversion of Metro South (a public transfer station in Oregon City) to a community drop-off depot. McGuire described Metro South’s constraints and history: the site opened in 1983 and "originally wasn't designed to host both self haul . . . alongside commercial hauling trucks," and today the system processes more than 300,000 tons annually.

Metro staff acknowledged converting Metro South could create a geographic gap for commercial haulers in the southern region. Siegel said Metro would take a phased approach: first assess whether an existing private facility in Clackamas County could be authorized to accept wet waste, and if not, pursue a public–private partnership or authorize a new commercial transfer station to fill the need.

The plan includes two follow-up studies to begin after adoption: an evaluation of the region’s wet-waste tonnage allocation (including examination of Metro’s tonnage guarantee) and an assessment of options for regulating private facilities to better serve the public interest. Both items are identified in the draft as requiring additional research and stakeholder engagement.

On finance, Metro estimated the capital and some operating costs of the proposed investments at about $273,000,000 over 20 years. Metro’s presentation said revenue bonds would be the primary financing tool, with debt paid over 20 years. Staff estimated that, averaged over the region and expressed in today’s dollars, the plan’s cost could raise the typical single-family household’s bill by about $1.50 to $2.00 per month. Metro emphasized the plan is a long-range vision and that project-level costs and timing would be set through annual budgeting and fee-setting processes guided by Metro’s solid waste fee policy and input from the Regional Waste Advisory Committee.

Commissioners pressed Metro on operational and equity questions. Commissioner Savas asked whether Metro directs haulers to private facilities and whether private-sector options could reduce new public investment and travel distances. McGuire said Metro currently allocates waste but does not routinely direct haulers to specific private stations and that finding a nearby commercial solution in Clackamas County would be a first option before building new public commercial capacity.

Commissioner West raised concerns about household and commercial cost impacts and questioned the effectiveness of recycling certain plastics. Rosalyn Green, Metro’s strategic initiatives manager, noted the state Recycling Modernization Act (an extended producer-responsibility program) is intended to certify end markets for materials and improve tracking of where recyclables go. Metro staff also pointed attendees to system-level performance indicators in the plan and Metro’s annual regional waste plan progress report; staff said they are developing more detailed department-level key performance indicators to track recovery, access and affordability.

Metro said the draft was developed over roughly two years with outreach to cities, counties, industry, community and tribal governments, plus an international symposium in late 2023. The plan was revised after public comment and review by local governments and the reconstituted Regional Waste Advisory Committee, which provided "general support for the plan, its investment strategy and the sequence of projects proposed in phase 1," but asked for more study of a proposed reuse mall. Metro staff said they revised plan language to require additional cost–benefit and site/operations analysis in partnership with reuse business leaders.

Metro staff told commissioners the plan will go to Metro Council for possible adoption later in the week; if Council adopts it, staff said they would begin project refinement, create project briefs and bring detailed project plans and financing proposals back to the Regional Waste Advisory Committee and Metro Council for approval. No formal county action or vote took place at the March 18 policy session.

The presentation prompted county staff to note how Metro fees flow through local rate-setting: Cheryl Bell, assistant director of Clackamas County Transportation and Development, explained that Metro’s regional system fees are charged on every ton managed in the region and that those fees are one component that local governments consider when setting curbside collection rates.

Metro officials and county staff told commissioners they would continue outreach and provide deeper briefings on fee-setting and project refinement to local governments before any bond issuance or final decisions.

Ending: Metro’s draft Regional System Facilities Plan aims to expand public access to reuse, recycling and organics services while addressing aging facilities. The plan proposes multiple facility types and financing through long-term debt, but Metro and local governments said further study, project refinement and public engagement will shape final siting, costs and timelines if Metro Council adopts the plan.