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A photo of many cans in clear plastic bags at Ground Score Association's The People's Depot in Southeast Portland Oregon
Ground Score Association The People's Depot Container Redemption Center Portland Oregon

 

The People's Depot (TPD) is our beverage container redemption center currently operating under the Morrison Bridge. It is operated by canners, for canners—people who collect cans and bottles for income.

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Ground Score is excited to announce that a prospective brick-and-mortar location has been identified for our depot at 1109 SE Brooklyn St. in Portland. This move will allow us to support our workers and customers better in a safe, indoor environment.

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TPD, which is already a world-renowned model of inclusive recycling by creating formal jobs for informal recyclers, is happy to continue our partnership with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) to maintain an inclusive space for everyone to redeem their bottles and cans.​

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The People's Depot location and hours:

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  • Current location: 800 SE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97214 (under the Morrison Bridge)

  • Hours: Mon-Fri from 9:30 am to 12 pm 

  • Redemption limit: Up to 400 containers per person per day

  • Accepts: Aluminum cans and plastic and glass beverage containers that are redeemable for Oregon's 10-cent deposit*

  • Holidays: TPD is closed on New Year’s Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and the following day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.​

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*Unfortunately, TPD cannot pay you for smashed containers or containers that have been run through a reverse vending machine. Any misshapen containers must have volume to them.​

In March 2025, we surveyed 152 canners who visited The People’s Depot in partnership with the OBRC, DHM Research, Nick Hara, and volunteers from the City of Portland. Questions were asked verbally. You can find more info below and in the report link. Some notable findings included that:

  • TPD canners reported earning about $7.68/hour on average, which is less than half of the Portland metro area’s minimum wage of $16.30/hour.

  • Respondents reported collecting/redeeming containers 5 days/week on average for 6 hours/day, equivalent to a 30-hour work week.

  • On average, those surveyed had been canning for 10 years. This contradicts the stereotype that canning and Oregon’s Bottle Bill fuel the fentanyl crisis, which did not start in Oregon until 2020.

  • Canners were most likely to spend the money they earned on basic essentials (63%), 

  • including food and non-alcoholic drinks (40%), bills (6%), transportation (5%), shelter (3%), medication and toiletries (3%), clothes/laundry (2%), family needs (3%), and savings (1%).

  • Black/African American canners reported making less on average than those of all other races/ethnicities ($21-$54 per transaction vs. $44-$96 per transaction for all respondents), despite the former working slightly longer hours on average (8 hours/day vs. 6 hours/day for all respondents).

  • Over two thirds (69%) of canners surveyed had a physical or mental disability despite only 14% receiving SSI/SSDI/Disability benefits.

Photo showing Arthur, a worker at The People's Depot, standing, looking to the right with a slight smile, and holding two large clear plastic bags filled with recyclable bottles and cans. Arthur has a black mustache and a dark complexion. He is wearing a gray beanie, gray and black jacket, and brown and white shirt. Behind him, another worker is walking by. In the background is a concrete wall at the depot, which is located in Portland, Oregon under the Morrison Bridge.
Ground Score Association The People's Depot

The People’s Depot was initially supported by the City of Portland and is now funded by the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative and private donations.Ground Score started TPD as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic when Oregon stopped enforcing its Bottle Bill and canners were left with few places to redeem cans and bottles

Can recycle icon.png

TPD processes about 39,000 beverage containers daily for recycling and serves 100+ canners. One of the most efficient redemption centers in town, TPD serves a person a minute.

Ground Score Association The People's Depot Circular Economy

The People’s Depot generates formal, benefitted jobs for workers with a background in informal can and bottle collection, serves hundreds of canners a week in the Central Eastside. In 2024, it prevented the emission of at least 2,530 tons of CO2 equivalent.​

Photo of a Ground Score worker smiling and sorting empty bottles and cans for recycling at The People's Depot in Portland, Oregon. She is wearing a gray sweater, long earrings, two pendants, black-framed glasses, and black work gloves. Her brown hair is tied in a bun on the top of her head. In the background is another worker, multiple tall rectangular boxes, a dark-colored vehicle, and the underside of the bridge the depot is located under. Beyond the bridge is a tree.

Photo by Brodie Cass Talbott

Photo of two men, one younger with a dark beard and the other older with only a grayish mustache, standing beside each other at The People's Depot in Portland, Oregon; the older man on the left is slightly behind the other and is blurrier. Behind the men are many full clear bags of bottles and and cans stacked inside the shipping container at the depot.
Graphic that reads "The People's Depot in a snapshot"

Total containers processed at TPD:

2025: 10,100,000

2024: 9,450,650 

2023: 7,500,439 

2022: 3,957,818 

2021: 3,834,424 

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Average # of people served per hour: 

2025: 62 customers per hour

2024: 60 customers per hour

2023: 60 customers per hour 

2022: 49 customers per hour

2021: 31 customers per hour

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Total transactions in 2024: 38,587

Number of payroll workers: 11 (as of April, 2026)

Photo showing the People's Depot in Portland, Oregon in operation, which is located under a road bridge. In the foreground are three large trash bags full of bottles and cans in the bottom corners of the image, plus a white sign with dark letters that reads "The People's Depot open 10 am-12 pm." The ground is made of pavement, and the sky is cloudy. About 8 recyclers are returning their bottles and cans, one of whom has a bike. Behind the recyclers are about 3 Ground Score workers counting the bottles and cans in small blue plastic kiddie pools being reused for that purpose on top of fold-up tables. Behind them is a shipping container that is used to store bags of bottles and cans.

​Find us: 

624 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR 97209

Email us:

hello@groundscoreassociation.org

Ground Score Association’s EIN is

33-2607524

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