Oregon’s Only Glass Bottle Recycling Plant Faces Million-Dollar Fine

“The lion’s share of the penalty, $745,854, is for the economic benefit the company gained by not installing pollution control equipment.”

web_260A9407 Owens-Brockway glass plant. (Wesley Lapointe)

This spring, Oregon’s only glass recycling plant dodged a crushing blow when Portland city officials scrapped two proposed fees on carbon emissions that would have raised the plant’s annual tax bill by $1 million (”Glass Houses,” WW, Jan. 27, 2021).

But now the Owens-Brockway plant faces a new problem: a $1 million fine from the state for breaking air pollution laws.

The Department of Environmental Quality levied the fine last week. A DEQ spokesperson alleges that Owens-Brockway was spewing too much soot: “The lion’s share of the penalty, $745,854, is for the economic benefit the company gained by not installing pollution control equipment.”

Every glass bottle recycled by Oregon’s Bottle Bill goes through Owens-Brockway. Environmental advocates say a crackdown on Owens-Brockway, which sits on 78 acres in the Cully neighborhood of Northeast Portland, is long overdue.

“This disregard is a clear issue of environmental racism, given the proximity of the plant to Cully, one of Oregon’s most diverse neighborhoods,” wrote Neighbors for Clean Air.

A spokesperson for the plant’s owner, Ohio-based Owens-Illinois, says: “O-I is aware of the announcement and is currently reviewing the scope but cannot provide comment on pending regulatory or legal matters.”

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.