Willamette Week is in the middle of our most important annual fundraiser. As a local independent news outlet, we need your help.

Give today. Hold power to account.

Support
Dr. Know

Portlanders Are Finally Allowed to Put Pizza Boxes in Their Recycling

Dr. Know has a pleasant surprise for a suspicious reader.

By Marty Smith
Phil Geffner stands between slices and boxes at Escape From New York Pizza. (Michael Raines)

My most recent Dominos box featured the message “Do Your Slice: Recycle This Pizza Box.” As a longtime reader of your column, I know that Metro specifically DOESN’T want us to recycle pizza boxes. Does Dominos really not know this, or are they just giving us a giant middle finger in the name of corporate greenwashing? —Crusty

Count your blessings, Crusty—given U.S. corporations’ environmental history, it’s easy to imagine a world where Dominos boxes are made from crystallized dioxin mixed with the skulls of baby harp seals. Fortunately, in this world they’re not. (You’re probably thinking of Little Caesars.) Moreover, cardboard really is recyclable—it’s only the soaked-in pizza grease that kills the vibe.

Domino's new green marketing. (Marty Smith)

That said, you’re a bit late to the party; Dominos introduced these feel-good boxes all the way back in 2022. (The subhead reads “Oven Baked Pizza With A Side Of Responsibility,” in case the main message isn’t insincere enough for you.) That means they’ve spent three full years ignoring the pleas of recycling professionals (like those at Metro) to keep greasy pizza boxes out of the recycling bin. Are they malicious, or just obtuse?

It turns out that the prohibition on pizza boxes isn’t as ironclad as we here in Portland might suppose. While grease isn’t good for the paper recycling process, plenty of U.S. jurisdictions have decided a little bit of it isn’t a deal-breaker, and do accept lightly soiled pizza boxes for recycling. The message you saw is directed at customers in those areas; the rest of us are supposed to ignore it.

Or at least we were! As part of my continuing quest to bury every lede, I can now announce that as of July 1, Portlanders are allowed to put pizza boxes in their recycling. (Try to contain your hosannas.) According to Metro, boxes should be “mostly free from grease, and there shouldn’t be any leftover food.” Greasier boxes still go in the compost (or, for apartment dwellers, the trash).

The change is part of Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act. One hopes it isn’t related to what appears to be a pressure campaign on the part of Dominos to promote universal pizza box recycling. Their website goes so far as to call the industry’s grease-based hesitation an “urban legend,” which seems a bit high-handed. They also proudly cite a recent study they say proves that pizza grease is no big deal. (The study came from the company that supplies their boxes, but I’m sure it’s legit.)

Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.

Marty Smith

Marty Smith

Marty Smith is the brains (or lack thereof) behind Dr. Know and skirts the fine line between “cultural commentator” and “bum” on a daily basis. He may not have lived in Portland his whole life, but he’s lived in Portland your whole life, so don't get lippy. Send your questions to dr.know@wweek.com and find him on Twitter at @martysmithxxx.