Clackamas County staff report mixed customer satisfaction and calls for expanded recycling options

Clackamas County staff on Jan. 22 reviewed results from the county’s 2025 customer satisfaction survey, reporting 640 responses gathered primarily between Aug. 25 and Oct. 30 after a postcard mailed to about 187,000 customers.

Staff said the majority of respondents were single-family customers and that 76% rated their collectors’ service as “good” or “very good,” while nearly 11% rated service “bad” or “very bad.” When asked why they rated service poorly, 46% of those respondents cited repeated missed pickups and 42% cited trucks leaving behind litter, staff said. "We got 640 responses," staff said during the presentation.

Open-ended comments (322 total) were categorized into 26 themes. The most frequent themes represented 88% of comments and included discontent with collectors (18%), praise for collectors, requests to allow food in yard debris, and calls for expanded curbside recycling or additional drop-off locations. Staff told the commission that all collectors would receive the comments left by their customers.

Staff also highlighted battery recycling awareness trends: after promotion efforts, awareness fell to 48% of respondents who said they did not know about the county’s battery recycling program in 2025, compared with 44% in 2024 and 51% in 2023. The presenter noted the survey was offered in English and Spanish and that Spanish-language responders tended to drop off after answering some questions.

Commissioners asked staff to check whether comments referencing third-party services (identified in discussion as Ridwell) included location data so staff could distinguish urban and rural patterns. Staff said the survey captured city/location and whether respondents have yard-debris service and that they would review that breakdown.

The presentation also noted that response counts have fallen since the county stopped offering an incentive for taking the survey, which staff said likely reduced participation. Staff said the county mailed the postcard and promoted the survey via social media and planned to make the full report available to collectors and the public.

The commission did not take formal action on the survey results; staff said materials and full comment lists would be available to collectors and in follow-up reports.