City of Roses Disposal and Recycling Facility
Project Description
Buildings account for 39% of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, more than any other single industry. Localized material disposal, recycling, and recovery has a significant role to play in addressing this issue, though it has largely remained outside of the attention of architects.
In 2015, The Center for Public Interest Design began collaborating on the design of a waste transfer and recycling facility on a property that City of Roses Disposal Recycling (CRDR) has recently acquired within Portland's Cully Neighborhood. The goal is that this new facility operates within the objectives of the Cully EcoDistrict and serves as an example for future waste management strategies within the Portland metro area.
Specializing in construction waste hauling and recycling, City of Roses Disposal and Recycling is a local, minority-owned business that has been working in North Portland for the past several decades. CRDR is committed to optimizing the recycling of materials that have been deemed too difficult for direct reuse through careful engagement with local recycling facilities. The company offers waste recycling hauling for large construction projects, ranging from 50,000 sq. ft. to 1,000,000 sq. ft. projects, such as Intel's new fabrication facilities.
CRDR runs a small and efficient operation, but its current facilities are not adequate for the goals they have envisioned. In our area, the recycling of waste through transfer stations is operating at an efficiency rating of roughly 30%. This low efficiency rating is a combination of low cost land filling rates and large corporate waste management companies that have no relationship with the communities they serve. CRDR believes the current model needs to change and that smaller, community-oriented, waste facilities offer an innovative solution to the waste management problems facing Portland's growing population.
This project has offered fascinating insight into the waste industry for our designers, andthe completed designs will allow our partners to move forward with their expansion. The CPID will be involved in future efforts to design interactive elements on the facility’s site to educate the surrounding community about waste reduction, recycling, and creative material reuse.
Project Partners: City of Roses Disposal and Recycling, Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership (OMEP)