material handler

customer service representative

team member

process technician

senior customer service representative

Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative

My time with the company was served within the Field Services department, but my position afforded me interactions with every other department. I worked there for 2 years and 10 months. My review will be separated into 3 parts: The Good, The Bad, and The Unfortunatelies. 

The Good:
*Work hard play hard ideology. 
*Great place to start as a mechanic or technician if you're positive and understand that it is an entry level job.
*Administrative Assistants in Field Services work 4-10 schedule. Many techs and mechanics do too.
*Director is insightful, and does his very best to make sure employees care about the work they do. He is more than willing to work next to his employees to get the job done.
*Company bbq once a year, and a gift card for Christmas/New Years a for $25 at Fred Meyer.
*If you prove that you're a good employee, there can be some limited flexibility for scheduling.

The Bad:
*I wasn't compensated very well for the work I did. 
*Unhelpful, and consistently negative reviews left me confused and doubting myself. Management failed to justify the scores they gave me, and even when I reached out for coaching opportunities and invited my manager to shadow me over 5 times during my time with the company to prove I knew my stuff, he refused.
*If you begin in Field Services, that's probably where you're going to stay unless management really likes you.
*Management likes it when you put in extra work, but are slow to actually make you feel like any of that work mattered. 
*Lots of charismatic dishonesty from my manager. He even had the gall to tell me he didn't get any raise this year. I learned that he says that frequently to try and make people that get those lovely 17 cent annual raises like I did feel better. It did not have that affect on me due to how preposterous it sounded when he said it.
*Moving up in the company isn't really a thing that applies in field Services. They hire basd on what they need. Especially in administrative positions in field services. 
*Management is not very fond of new ideas. They are very uses to doing things in older more archaic ways to 'save money'. 
*You get no sick time. 
*The tablets the technicians and mechanics have to use are extremely old and don't run very well half the time. They are not the ideal choice for the software needed to do the job.
*It's hard to get technology upgrades so you can be effective at your job. It's all connected to inter-departmental politics and funding. 
*Expensive insurance

The Unfortunatelies:
*This company has spent decades valuing saving money over the welfare of the employees. There are people working to change that, but it's extremely slow.
*I spent over a year being mocked and even openly disrespected by technicians, mechanics, and even other office staff. It was very confusing, and humiliating in a way too. My manager told me to report it to him so he could handle it. After I began reporting them, my manager failed to take any significant action to change anything. The last thing he said about it to me was "I think that's just how [Employee] is." I was shocked at the lack of professionalism.
*My manager failed to address or justify my poor review scores. Even when I asked and tried my hardest to prove to him that I was good at my job. I frequently asked him to shadow me so he could see that I knew what I was doing and was good at it... but it never mattered, nothing I did mattered.
*My manager informed me that I was doing great every time I asked if he had any feedback for me or if there was anything I could improve upon. However, according to my reviews, I was extremely middling/mediocre at best. I found this at BEST, dishonest.
*If you're in Field Services, "guy talk" after the director leaves runs rampant. It got annoying pretty fast.
*Office politics often times got in the way of actually empowering the technicians and mechanics to have what they needed to do a great job. Instead, many times they were expected to work miracles to get a broken part barely functional again. Management between departments seem oblivious to what it actually takes to repair their own equipment. I wasn't a tech or mech, but it made me upset seeing many people I managed being set up for failure. 
*Being told by my coworker that I went to for advice/to vent about my reviews that I was nothing special and easily replaceable. 

The job was presented as a fully supported and providing a work life balance. This was completely the opposite. Middle and Senior Management is designed and trained to run a turn and burn employee program. They will use you until you're burnt out and throw you away once you've told them enough. I was expected to be available 14 hours a day 7 days a week in an hourly position. Every decision made is made with a manager or directors bonus in mind. I felt mostly unsupported during my time here. There are no training programs. Safety is important to them but they do very little enforcement and it shows. In-fighting between departments is a daily occurrence. The right hand doesn't talk to the left and things become chaos. Communication is terrible otherwise and information is almost always 2nd hand. Mostly unorganized.
Not everything was poor, We had good IT support, accounting was good, facilities maintenance, and one department that ran very efficiently was Route ops. I could always count on them to get the job done. Our customer service department was great too,  but so understaffed that they couldn't keep up.

We would throw away rags and buy new ones because it was cheaper than washing them, so disheartening.


Honestly one of the best jobs I've had, pay is negotiable, many ways to transfer or progress in company, keeps you busy. My only, and most major concern, however, is safety. This is a very dirty, loud, machine heavy working environment (as expected form a bottle drop redemption center) and that in itself can be a lot at times, but the addition of overly aggressive customers, is absolutely overwhelming. Some locations have security but not all (my location included) and when its understaffed, you're the only person running the entire front end, and desperate men and women threaten you for simply doing your job or enforcing rules, it can make it hard to feel like the work you are doing is equal to pay and not worth the risk. You have to be okay with people constantly challenging you, and always prepared for a situation to escalate. Kicking people out, people ready to get physical, trespass notices, etc. all a regular day on the job. We are also quite limited in how we are able to help customers so any time something goes wrong you just kind of have to take one for the team on behalf of the company, until the higher ups/ customer service jump in to handle it. 

OBRC is a company that will chew you up and spit you back out. 

There is no gratitude. 

They unrealistically expect you to be married to your job, and have you not plan anything at all outside of work as you will be called in. 

They wouldn't have to do a $1000 bonus if they treated their employees correctly, there is a reason why they are offering that. If it wasn't at all obvious. 

Upper management is completely blind to the stress the people carrying them on their shoulders are dealing with. 

Pay sucks, you get a .30 raise a year if you are LUCKY. That's the company's 'good' raise. There are no merit-based raises. 

On the outside the company seems like it would be great, seems like they really do care. That's a complete sham, they do NOT. They will have you work well beyond 16hr days and not bat an eye, nor give a thank you towards your hard work for the company. 

Do not bother applying, it's a terrible job for a terrible company. Do yourself a favor, don't waste your time working here.

This company is a bit different from the others that I have worked for in the past. It took a small amount of time to adjust, however once I did, I realized how many opportunities there are for growth. Most of the people I work with on a day-to-day basis have been with the company for a long period of time and have worked their way up from lower positions. I myself have grown into larger rolls since I started with the company. Our senior management does listen and will consider reasonable ideas & recommendations, albeit change does not happen overnight. You have to be patient for changes to take place. I personally work with employees at all levels, and I see that there is management engagement with every position. As an employee there will always be some frustrations, however unlike OBRC, many companies are less likely to listen and or adjust.

I worked 3 hours and never went back. Nothing was ever mentioned about possible needle exposure and getting stuck by one. After orientation/training (what they called training), I saw an inconspicuously placed flyer stating risk of needle exposure. I understood it was a “get your hands dirty job” but the risk of getting pricked by a needle just wasn’t worth it. When I asked if needles and getting pricked was a common thing, I was told it happens but it really wasn’t a big deal. Not a big deal? WTF?! When I pressed about it, I got an eye-roll and was told “Great, you’re one of those people...” Also COVID-19 safety protocols are a total joke. Nothing is sanitized and the protective eyewear you’re expected to use isn’t sanitized between usage and they were so dirty you could barely see out of them. If you have any self worth at all, Do Not Work Here!

As a part time driver, I'd pick up recyclables from locations on a dedicated route. Generally smaller neighborhood grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations. I'd start at the processing center, pick up my truck, then check the handheld device for a list of my pickup spots for the day. Run the route, pick up and count the bags of recyclables by type at each location, enter it into the handheld, then pay out a check to each store for reimbursement of the deposits they paid out. Same for each stop. Interact with store workers as needed. I got to know the people on my route very well.

While Security is a stressful job (As is to be expected in that line of work), the OBRC is a great place to work. Management is always there for you to answer questions and assist as needed, and I always felt valued while working there.

The pay was above average, and raises were regular and timely. Training is provided and fairly thorough, with continuous support from corporate. HR is outstanding, and always answered any questions I had.

To be honest, I'd still be there if my position had not been eliminated due to a corporate restructuring, and happily so. I HIGHLY recommend the OBRC! Great job, great pay, and great people. I would go back if offered the same job without hesitation.

My day consists of getting there at 3.00am.  I then would clock in, get my paperwork and make my way out to my truck where I would start it and start my pre-trip.  Once complete I would drive to my first store to pick up there recycling (cans and bottles).  I learned the swiftness of doing a rout to make as fast and as efficiant as possible.  Management was really good.  Its the people above my supervisor who never sat in a truck that would make the decisions for us.  I would have to say the hardest part of the job was dealing with the liquid that is in the containers I pick up. You can use your imagination.  If its a bad thaught, then it has probably happend to me during my stent with OBRC.  The enjoyable part was I got to mengle with alot of people.  Kind of makes the day go swell.

It’s a smaller company, so you get a close work environment and some chances to grow depending on the department. Most coworkers are friendly and easy to work with.

Since it’s in recycling, some jobs can involve sticky or smelly areas, especially if you’re around any of the processing parts. 

Training really depends on the department. Some roles have a set process, others are more learn as you go. The work pace is steady and the day usually moves pretty fast.

The company is always trying to improve things, but change can take a while. Leadership seems involved, and the current president appears engaged and focused on moving things in a good direction.

Overall, it’s a decent place for someone who likes a smaller team environment and doesn’t mind the nature of recycling work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Material handler 152 salaries reported	$17.74 per hour
Customer service representative 162 salaries reported	$18.22 per hour
Team member 8 salaries reported	$21.49 per hour
Process technician 20 salaries reported	$20.10 per hour
Senior customer service representative 33 salaries reported	$21.86 per hour

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