Guest article by Master Recycler Catherine Tran, Class 88
On June 3rd, 2024, I had the opportunity to visit the Metro government building and job shadow!
Who are Recycling Information Specialists?
Recycling Information Specialists handle more than 40,000 information referral phone calls each year in English and Spanish. These experts connect residents and businesses from across the greater Portland region with businesses/ organizations that provide recycling services and support the reuse of products and materials. They also promote ways people can prevent waste in their homes and businesses.
Catherine Tran, Master Recycler Class 88
I was really excited when I saw the opportunity to shadow a Recycling Information Specialist in the Master Recycler Newsletter. After having taken the MR class back in Fall 2023, I wanted to learn more about this world of recycling and the people working in or alongside the field of waste management.
It was a Monday, and with a lot of staff working hybrid or remote, the office space was pretty void of human activity. It was almost as if I were on night shift in my own workplace, except the large windows letting light in through overcast skies told me otherwise. As a visitor, it was neat to take a look around!
Being Pride Month, I was welcomed with colorful flags at the Metro office, which gave a friendly ambiance.
A couple sustainability-related features at the Metro office - the building is LEED gold certified and staff can borrow e-bikes for use near the office!
I got to shadow Barbara Linssen, who has worked part-time as a Recycling Information Center Specialist for 11 years. We sat in a conference room so she could show me how she navigated answering people’s questions in real time. Her tools for the trade were a laptop with connection to the applications she needed, a cell phone, a map, and a headset (which she didn’t use with me so I could listen in on speakerphone to incoming calls). These items served her and her team well during the pandemic when everyone started working from home.
Methods of customer-facing communication are phone, email, and social media. Working hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with Mondays being heavy email days.
It was not quite what I expected. As in, I didn’t expect it to be very busy! We were only able to chat a bit before another call would come in every few minutes, and we would resume our conversation after. She also answered emails in between. I didn’t previously imagine that that many people would care about doing what was best for items at their end of use!
Barbara and the RIC Specialist team have an organized process on sharing the load of emails and phone calls that come in. Real-time team communication happens on Microsoft Teams to handle rotating break times, and a separate web application handles the influx of calls. Multiple specialists answer emails, and each team member “claims” an email inquiry by labeling it with their name. They make sure callers don’t wait too long to speak with a specialist.
Beyond answering phone and email inquires, team members also analyze outreach metrics. Barbara mentioned multiple ways people find their way to their hotline, including their local garbage hauler giving them the number and the “Ask Metro” ads in newspapers (people still read those!).
The team is in the midst of revamping the Find a Recycler platform
Some team members also collect and review data for their Find a Recycler database. This central database is where they retrieve the details for promptly providing answers. It can be a challenge to keep the database updated as recycling markets and businesses change, but they do their best to keep it updated with the latest information.
As for the calls...
When someone calls in for how to get rid of an item, Barbara asks for more details to get a better description (texture, appearance, if it contains a liquid, etc.), and their location (usually by zip code). I noticed she could often recall or quickly look up addresses, hours of operation, phone numbers, associated costs (usually by weight), and how to drop off the item(s). She would also list what else a facility could take, which the caller often found helpful. She could also transfer the caller to some facilities’ phone lines. If the caller is outside the Metro boundary, the RIC has resources to refer them to. Otherwise, the caller is told to contact their local hauler. Barbara is very customer service oriented, understanding, and tries to make the process as simple as possible for the caller.
There are all sorts of materials out there! We got questions about empty propane canisters, unused fireworks, pill bottles, furniture, hot water tanks, Styrofoam, insulation for home construction, washers and dryers, old RVs, an old fiberglass boat, and more!
During our break, I got to visit the rooftop garden/patio. I imagine it would be very pleasant on a warmer day.
Differed bins found around the Metro building. I was amused by the different shapes and designs of the openings.
Discussions Between Calls
Prompted by the many materials that callers had questions about, Barbara and I had great discussions in between calls about a variety of topics:
Asbestos: when Oregon passed asbestos testing and disposal regulations a number of years ago, the RIC received a lot of calls from contractors about the change. They get less of these calls now as more people know about and understand the new health and safety regulations.
The Recycling Modernization Act (RMA): Launching July 2025, the RMA will require tons of joint effort from manufactures, local governments, community organizations, and Master Recyclers to share news of updates to Oregon’s recycling.
Styrofoam: After Agilyx closed, Green Century Recycling became the only option for Styrofoam recycling in our region. Currently, Green Century collects and loads Styrofoam onto a truck heading to Seattle, where there is a densifier to transform it into hard blocks.
Plastic: I learned about Denton Plastics, which is a recycling facility for different plastics in east Portland. The company accepts certain, large quantities of plastic from businesses since they want reliably clean incoming materials, and is not open to the public. However, they do work with James’ Recycling, which collects and sorts various, clean plastics from the public before taking it there.
Difficult to dispose of items: A customer called to discuss how to deal with an old RV on their property. They had already tried charities, then metal scrappers but that did not work out because of the potential risk of asbestos in the RV’s vinyl flooring, seam tape, and acoustic tiles. Barbara shared her answer with at least a couple of RV callers!
Hazardous Waste: I learned a lot of the calls that come in are about people trying to properly dispose of hazardous waste. Businesses need to set up their own appointments and usually get their call transferred to their nearest facility. Metro’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility is free for up to 35 gallons of waste from residential customers.
The two and a half hours flew by very quickly. Thanks a lot to Barbara for taking the time to provide me this opportunity! And thanks to everyone involved in the effort to mitigate the impact of waste on this planet!
- Catherine Tran, Master Recycler Class 88
Found while wandering around, there was a nice Thank You message board set up to be sent to Metro partners for Waste and Recycling Workers Recognition Week 2024 (the week of June 17th).