The Salem City Council voted Monday to increase hospital collection rates for medical waste by 168%.
The move comes after Reworld Marion, the owner of the incinerator in Brooks, told Marion County commissioners in September it would stop taking the county’s waste at the end of 2024.
All burning will cease at the incinerator in Brooks on Friday, Salem franchise administrator Ryan Zink told the City Council.
A truck enters the gates of ReWorld Marion on Jan. 16.
County commissioners said the closure was caused by a new state law requiring increased pollution monitoring.
The closure sent officials and haulers searching for an affordable substitution for handling commercial, medical and residential waste.
In the short term, haulers are taking trash to Coffin Butte Landfill near Corvallis. Officials are discussing a long-term option of using both Coffin Butte and a landfill near The Dalles.
Where will Marion County’s medical waste will go?
Medical waste, which includes pathological waste and medical trash like used needles, gowns and gloves, required a separate approach.
Zink said the medical waste disposal in Marion County has been historically low, but the current market rate for sharps and non-pathological would’ve increased costs dramatically. For pathological waste, the market rate is $4,200 per ton, a 2700% increase from rates in 2024. Officials were able to find an Oregon-based company with a lower rate.
Bio Clean will provide services at $16 a box — $1,143 a ton — for sharps and pathological waste. The pathological waste will go to a small-scale incinerator in Portland. The non-pathological waste will go to Boise, Idaho, where it is run through an autoclave sterilizer and sent to a landfill.
The Mid-Valley Garbage and Recycling Association, a group of the six solid waste management haulers serving Salem, requested the following for commercial medical waste collection rates:
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An increase in hospital collection rates by 168%, effective Feb. 1.
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An increase in low-volume collection rates by 52%, effective March 1.
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An increase in high-volume collection rates by 72%, effective March 1.
The change would increase the rate for a Salem Health 20-gallon medical waste container from $9.95 to $26.65.
The proposed increases do not impact the already approved 2025 rates for curbside residential waste collection.
‘Burning garbage is terrible for our environment’
The list of businesses that use medical waste collection includes obvious candidates like hospitals and medical clinics but also schools, tattoo parlors, prisons and veterinary clinics.
Councilor Paul Tigan questioned Zink about the impact of the increase on small businesses. Zink said those small businesses tend to use the low-volume collection rates.
Reworld leaders are still working to continue operations at the incinerator in Brooks.
Councilor Shane Matthews asked what would happen if that service resumed. Zink said they will be in conversations with haulers on a regular basis.
“If things change and the cost of disposal goes down, we’ll be asking for and working with them to charge less,” Zink said.
Councilor Deanna Gwyn said she understood the difficulty with increasing rates.
“This isn’t something that anyone wanted to have happen,” she said. “It’s a necessity, and these are small business owners who have families that they have to support, and if we don’t do this tonight, they’re not going to be able to continue to provide the service.”
Councilor Vanessa Nordyke noted the environmental injustice of incinerators, which tend to be located near and impact poorer communities.
“Goodbye and good riddance, Reworld,” Nordyke said. “Burning garbage is terrible for our environment. It is well known that when you burn garbage, it hurts our kids, our air, everything around us. It can have significant environmental and health harms.”
She brought forth the motion to approve the new rates. The council passed the motion unanimously.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem medical waste rates increase after Brooks incinerator closure
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