Kennewick's Trash & Recycling: The Rules That Matter

Every city handles trash & recycling a little differently. In Kennewick, Washington, there are 7 distinct rules that residents and property owners should be aware of. Some are stricter than what neighboring cities enforce, and others are more relaxed. Here is what you need to know.

Illegal Dumping

Kennewick declares it a public nuisance to throw, deposit, or dump garbage, waste, refuse, litter, or debris in any street or public place unless the disposal is specifically authorized by law, under KMC 9.48.010(2)(a). The City can issue civil penalties through a notice-and-order process, and three or more violations at one property can be referred for criminal misdemeanor prosecution.

Key details: Covered conduct: Dumping garbage/waste in street or public place. Also covered: Allowing waste to accumulate on private land. First step: Notice and order, 15 days to pay. Penalty schedule: Escalates per Master Fee Schedule. Criminal threshold: 3+ violations at same property.

A first illegal dumping violation draws a civil penalty set by City Council in the Master Fee Schedule under KMC 9.48.040, due within 15 days of the notice and order if unappealed, with escalating penalties for a second and subsequent violations. Unpaid penalties and City abatement costs can go to collections or become the basis of a civil suit under KMC 9.48.070, and three or more violations of KMC 9.48.010 at the same property can be referred to the City Attorney for a misdemeanor charge under KMC 9.48.045.

This is not one of those rules that cities tend to ignore. Kennewick actively enforces its illegal dumping requirements.

Collection Schedule

Kennewick Municipal Code § 9.04.040 requires every residence, commercial establishment and multi-family property to subscribe to a franchised solid waste collector, and § 9.04.030(9) sets weekly collection as the minimum for both residential and commercial solid waste. Skipping mandatory garbage service is a misdemeanor under § 9.04.040(3).

Key details: Mandatory service: Every occupied premises must subscribe. Minimum frequency: At least once a week. Placement: Curb or alley, as collector designates. Collector requirement: City franchise required to haul waste. Free coupons: 4 per year at transfer station.

Section 9.04.040(3) makes a conviction for failing to subscribe to franchised garbage service, or failing to have waste regularly removed, a misdemeanor. Chapter 9.04's broader penalty section, 9.04.120, separately makes any knowing violation of the chapter's solid waste provisions a misdemeanor and any general code violation an infraction carrying a civil penalty up to $5,000.00, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense.

Yard Waste Collection

Kennewick lets residents bundle shrubs, trees under six inches in diameter, small limbs, and lumber for pickup, but each bundle is capped at five feet long, two feet in girth, and 65 pounds.

Key details: Max bundle length: 5 feet. Max bundle girth: 2 feet. Max bundle weight: 65 pounds. Tree diameter limit: Under 6 inches.

Bundles over the five-foot, two-foot-girth, or 65-pound limits can be refused by the collector; noncompliance is enforceable as a civil infraction under the Chapter's general penalty, up to $5,000 (KMC 9.04.120).

Dumpster Rules

Kennewick requires garbage cans, bins, and dumpsters in commercial, industrial, and multi-family zones to sit inside a building or behind a six-foot sight-obscuring enclosure set at least 20 feet from any residential use.

Key details: Applies to: UMU, commercial, industrial, multi-family zones. Enclosure height: At least 6 feet, sight-obscuring. Residential buffer: At least 20 feet away. Maintenance rule: No refuse accumulation around enclosure.

Leaving a dumpster unscreened in a covered district, using an enclosure under six feet, siting it within 20 feet of residential use, or letting refuse pile up outside it violates KMC 18.12.280 and draws code enforcement action.

Recycling Requirements

Kennewick sets no blanket curbside recycling mandate: city code lets the City Manager order residents to segregate recoverable materials, and haulers don't need a solid-waste franchise just to collect cans, bottles and newspapers.

Key details: Governing chapter: KMC Chapter 9.04, Garbage. Segregation authority: City Manager can order it. Hauler exemption: No franchise needed for recyclables. Enforcing agency: Kennewick City Manager. Max penalty: $5,000 civil infraction.

Violating Chapter 9.04's solid-waste provisions is a civil infraction with a civil penalty up to $5,000, or a misdemeanor for knowing solid-waste violations, under KMC 9.04.120.

The rules around recycling requirements in Kennewick lean permissive, but that does not mean anything goes.

Bin Placement Rules

Kennewick requires every occupied property to keep sufficient, sanitary cans or receptacles for its solid waste, and those containers must be strong, water-tight, and rodent- and insect-proof at all times.

Key details: Requirement: Sufficient cans for all waste. Container standard: Water-tight, rodent- and insect-proof. Lid rule: Kept on except loading/unloading. Fire hazard: Excess accumulation prohibited.

Failing to keep sufficient, sanitary, pest-proof cans is a civil infraction punishable by a penalty up to $5,000; knowing violations involving solid waste are a misdemeanor (KMC 9.04.120).

Bulk Item Disposal

Kennewick doesn't offer curbside bulk-item pickup; instead the city's franchised collector must give residential customers four free disposal coupons a year for its transfer station.

Key details: Curbside bulk pickup: Not offered. Free coupons: 4 per year, residential. Transfer station hours: Open daily except Sundays, holidays. Who provides: Franchised solid waste collector.

There's no penalty for using the free coupons; failing to properly dispose of waste through the franchised collector can trigger the Chapter's general civil infraction penalty, up to $5,000 (KMC 9.04.120).

The Bottom Line

Kennewick's trash & recycling rules are a mixed bag. Some areas are strict, others are relaxed, and the details matter. The best approach is to check the specific rule that applies to your situation rather than assuming Kennewick is broadly strict or permissive.

These rules come from Kennewick's publicly available municipal code. For complete penalty schedules, exemption details, and answers to common questions, see the individual ordinance pages throughout this guide.