Keizer’s trash and recycling rates will see a small increase in monthly price due to inflation rates and new recycling requirements.
The haulers, who had a 3% increase last January, will raise rates 2% in January 2026, or about 80 cents.
Shawn Edmonds is the chief executive officer of Apple Tree Holdings, which operates Loren’s Sanitation. He expects a small increase in garbage and recycling rates each year.
“We’ll be coming in every year, depending upon inflation and things of that nature,” he said to the Keizer City Council on Monday, Nov. 3. “It should be leveling off, because in the past we’ve had to play catch up.”
Officials said that moving forward, Keizer residents can expect notice of increased rates around November, and for the increase to take effect in January.
The change comes as a result of a Senate bill passed in 2022 that is now taking effect. Now, the state has recategorized recyclable items to modernize waste management.
Valley Recycling and Disposal recently released a list of what is now recyclable in Keizer’s blue trash cans.
For plastics, Keizer residents can recycle bottles, round containers, and other plastic items. Aluminum, steel cans, and scrap metal less than 10 pounds and 18 inches can be recycled.
Plastic boxes that are flattened and without food residue are recyclable. And paper products, including egg cartons and paperback books, can also be recycled.
The list can also be found on Valley Recycling and Disposal’s website at valleyrecycling.net.
The companies originally proposed a 4% increase, but were able to shave off operation costs by using the Salem recycling center instead of their former transfer station in Brooks. According to a city staff report, recycling processing that cost $95 a ton now costs firms nothing after shifting to the Salem site.
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