The People’s Depot has no permit for its current location and had previously agreed to stop operating there over the summer, city spokesperson Laura Rude said. The city is responsible for public safety on streets and sidewalks around the site, though it does not own the potential indoor location or directly control redemption center operations and siting.

Ground Score, the nonprofit that runs The People’s Depot, still hopes to move the operation into a permanent indoor space in Southeast Portland’s Brooklyn neighborhood. But a permit for the building remains under review, according to city records, and the search for another location has not yet produced a solution, said Taylor Cass Talbott, a Ground Score spokesperson.

An indoor site could reduce crowding and allow staff to work longer hours, Cass Talbott said. The current site’s limited operating schedule and the size of trucks that can fit beneath the bridge constrain how many containers it can accept. The short work hours also make it harder for sorters to reach 80 hours a month, a threshold for qualifying for government health insurance under requirements taking effect in 2027.

Despite those limits, The People’s Depot processed more than 10 million cans from June 2025 through May 2026 — nearly 7% of Portland’s total intake — according to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative. The site is now one of only two in Portland where people can bring large quantities of unsorted bottles and cans for immediate cash payment. The other is near Northeast 122nd Avenue and Northeast Glisan Street.

Demand at the Morrison Bridge increased after the Delta Park redemption site closed in July, Cass Talbott said. People receive the state’s 10-cent deposit for each eligible container they return. The People’s Depot also pays people to sort incoming containers.

“We’re not entertaining ideas of shutting down,” Cass Talbott said, adding that some customers depend on the service. If the nonprofit must leave the bridge, its leaders will try to find another place to operate.

The outdoor site began during the pandemic, when grocery stores were relieved of their obligation under Oregon’s Bottle Bill to accept returns. Ground Score, which already employed people experiencing homelessness or formerly homeless in street-cleanup and waste-reduction work, developed the operation after hearing that people relying on bottle returns were going hungry. The city, then led by Mayor Ted Wheeler, provided permission and funding for the program.

A 2025 revision to Oregon’s Bottle Bill was intended to establish an alternative redemption-center model in large cities. The People’s Depot was expected to be the first such center, with an unused warehouse identified as a possible permanent site in August 2025. The plan faltered this summer after nearby grocery store owners withdrew financial support and property issues slowed the permit process.

Cass Talbott said Ground Score has invited Mayor Keith Wilson to visit the bridge operation and hopes the city will help identify a lasting location. The organization, she said, stepped in to fill a gap in the bottle-return system, and that gap remains.