Solid Waste Disposal

About this indicator: Solid waste (garbage) disposal and recycling rates are significant indicators of resource consumption levels by King County residents and businesses. When a product has reached the end of its useful life and must be discarded, it must usually either be disposed at the King County landfill or taken to a recycling facility for transformation into another product. Every product made from recycled materials reduces the need for extraction of additional natural resources, which uses much more energy and results in higher greenhouse gas emissions than using recycled materials. King County's solid waste goals call for ongoing reduction of the amount of materials disposed at the landfill per person and per employee, and ongoing increases in the percentage of discarded materials that are recycled.

Status: Performance measures reported in the 2009 DNRP KingStat Web site include targets for single family recycling (56%) and solid waste disposal levels (25 pounds per household per week). The 2009 results were somewhat short of these targets, with the single-family recycling rate at 54% and the single-family disposal levels at 26 pounds per week. Although overall solid waste generation decreased substantially in 2009, largely due to the poor economy, residential recycling and disposal rates remained close to or at 2008 levels (55% and 26 pounds per week, respectively).

2009 information about the amount of solid waste disposed per employee per week countywide will not be available until September 2010. Information from 2008 shows that the amount of waste disposed per employee was 24 pounds per week, slightly higher than the target of 23.5 pounds per week stated in the county's 2001 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan.

Influencing factors: Economic conditions have a significant influence on consumption levels and therefore solid waste disposal levels. The continued economic downturn in 2009 reduced the amount of consumption, and therefore the amount of solid waste disposed. However, most of the reductions occurred in the commercial sector. Residential recycling and disposal rates remained close to or at 2008 levels, perhaps reflecting an increased amount of in-home activities.

DNRP response: As of November 2009, 99% of single-family garbage customers had food waste collection services available. As a result, the Division incorporated the "Recycle Food. It's Easy to Do." media campaign into the "Recycle More. It's Easy to Do." campaign to simplify its recycling education message. In addition, the county's recycling "how to" guides were adapted by suburban cites and commercial haulers and distributed to single-family households across King County. The Division also established several new retail partnerships to make compostable bags and counter-top food waste bins available to King County residents, and worked with the cities of Snoqualmie, Kent, and Federal Way to increase residential recycling.

Priority new actions: The efforts conducted in 2009 will continue in 2010. In addition, the "Recycle More. It's Easy to Do." campaign will target areas of the county that are recycling 35 percent or less.

Percent of Single Family Household Solid Waste Recycled
2009 Information
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Pounds of Solid Waste Collected per Single Family Household per Week by Collection Area
2009 Information
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What you can do: Learn more about what you can do to reduce waste and increase recycling through the following resources.

• Garbage and recycling services
• Food waste and recycling
• Yard waste
• Electronics recycling
• Fluorescent bulb recycling
• Appliance recycling
• Textile recycling
• Recycling collection events
• Household hazardous waste collection
• the Wastemobile
• Construction recycling
• Recycling other materials/items
• On-line materials exchange
• Green building
• Eco-consumer tips