Baker City to begin state-mandated curbside recycling in April 2026

Baker Sanitary Service will begin curbside recycling within Baker City on April 1, 2026, company president Stephen Henry said, after ordering 4,487 blue 95-gallon plastic rollcarts and placing an order for a truck to support collection. “The company’s goal is to begin curbside recycling within the city limits on April 1,” Henry told the Baker City Herald, and the firm projects cart delivery in March 2026.

The curbside push responds to a 2021 Oregon Legislature law and state rules that Baker Sanitary cites as having taken effect July 1, 2025. Baker Sanitary’s fall newsletter states, “Due to changes in Oregon’s recycling laws that went into effect on July 1, 2025, Baker City Council has voted to move forward with curbside recycling collection to become compliant with the revised statewide recycling regulations.”

Under Baker Sanitary’s announced plan, every garbage service customer inside Baker City limits will receive a 95-gallon blue recycling cart because “recycling service must be combined with our residential garbage service,” the newsletter says. The company sets the first-month billing change at an increase of $6.67 per month for weekly residential rollcart service effective April 2026, and Henry said optional curbside recycling for Baker Valley customers outside city limits will begin in late spring 2026 at an additional cost “slightly more than the increase for city customers.”

Collection will be every-other-week on the same day as a household’s current garbage pickup, the newsletter specifies. Customers are instructed to set the blue cart out the night before pickup next to their 65-gallon garbage cart, leaving at least 3 to 4 feet between the two for automated handling; BakerSanitary’s website continues to require carts out by 5:00 a.m. on pickup day and 4 feet of clearance around carts. The company also warns that extra bags placed beside rollcarts may generate additional charges ranging from $2.00 to $9.00 and that carts cannot exceed 200 pounds.

At Baker Sanitary’s recycling center at 12th and Campbell streets, Henry said the operation will separate glass bottles and cardboard into dedicated bins while placing other curbside materials into a single co-mingled bin. The newsletter directs customers to “Please include only items in the attached Recycling Guide,” but the full guide has not been published in the company’s public newsletter text.

Baker Sanitary lists its office for service signups at 3048 Campbell St and a contact phone of 541-523-2626. The company and Baker City have not released a detailed rate table covering bi-weekly or commercial customers, nor a breakdown of the 4,487 carts between residential and commercial accounts, and they have not provided specifications for the new truck ordered to handle 95-gallon carts.

With delivery slated for March and route adjustments planned in April, Baker City households should expect to see larger 95-gallon blue carts arrive ahead of the April 1 start date and a modest monthly bill increase as the city moves to comply with the statewide recycling requirements.