NWCC Board Member and Former Fred Meyer CEO Ken Thrasher Interviewed by KOIN about the Bottle Bill

Photo Credit KOIN News, Ken Boddie, Jenna Deml

KOIN News’ Ken Boddie recently interviewed NWCC Board Member and former Fred Meyer CEO Ken Thrasher about the Oregon Bottle Bill.

In 1971, Oregon implemented the first bottle bill in the United States. This initiative has been successful in keeping millions of tons of recyclables out of landfills and the environment. In 2023, over 2 billion containers were returned and recycled, demonstrating the positive impact of the program. However, Portland and the state continue to face challenges related to drugs and homelessness. This spring, Governor Tina Kotek took action to suspend bottle returns at two Plaid Pantries in SW Portland in an attempt to curb crime and other issues resulting from the 24-7 return policies.

Ken Thrasher and the NWCC have been actively working on changing the way the bottle bill supports drug use and crime. During the interview, he proposed two modifications to the current system:

“One, we have bottles that often are dirty and have residue of drugs or needles or fentanyl in them going into stores which endangers employees,” Thrasher said. “And then we also have the case element coming out to fund drug trafficking and use. We want to see both of those change.”

The bottle return sites also often have long wait times or malfunctioning machines, which Thrasher believes could be addressed with more thorough regulation and “a more holistic approach.”

“The bottle bill was an environmental bill. It wasn’t a social service program when it was first put into place,” he said. “It’s modified itself to become that. But since I left Fred Meyer, (it) has become a major driver of drug trafficking in our belief based on that value that the person can take the money. So I think we’ve got to look at how it’s used, how it benefits the public, and, if it’s going to be a social program, let’s define it and create a system that works for everyone.”

To read the full article, visit KOIN’s site here.

More about the NWCC’s advocacy efforts on our News page: https://www.nwccpdx.org/news