Trash & Recycling in Washington (2026)

Only the city's contracted hauler may collect garbage or refuse in Bellingham: anyone else picking up trash without a…

Thurston County designates its own transfer stations and drop-box facilities as the only lawful places to dispose of…

Auburn requires garbage, recycling and compostables carts to be at the curb by the hauler's scheduled start time and…

Benton County runs disposal, not curbside pickup. Kennewick uses Waste Management, Richland runs its own utility, and…

Curbside garbage and recycling in unincorporated Clark County is provided by WUTC-certificated haulers. Recycling is…

Containers used to store or collect solid waste in unincorporated Cowlitz County must be rigid, corrosion-resistant…

Edmonds requires curbside recyclables to be set out on your hauler's designated collection day under Edmonds City Code…

Only service providers holding a current Federal Way service agreement or franchise may collect and haul garbage in the…

Kent requires every person and property to use the city's contracted solid waste collection system under KCC 7.03.020…

Certificated haulers serving unincorporated King County must collect recyclable materials from every single-family home…

Kirkland single-family residents may set garbage, recycling and yard waste carts out no earlier than 24 hours before…

In unincorporated Kitsap County, the WUTC-regulated solid waste company can refuse to pick up a recycling or…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington sets the ground rules for how residential garbage must be presented for pickup: it…

Lynnwood, Washington, a Snohomish County city, requires every property owner and entity to obtain garbage collection…

Marysville's utility department collects residential garbage at least once a week under Marysville Municipal Code…

PMC 8.05.210 sets minimum pickup frequency: residential solid waste must be collected at least once a week, public food…

Pierce County Code Chapter 8.30 establishes a county solid waste handling system for all unincorporated areas, but…

Port Townsend requires curbside solid waste collection at least once a week for homes, arranged through the city's…

Puyallup requires every commercial and residential property owner to deposit all solid waste in an approved container…

Renton sets garbage collection for single-family homes and duplexes once weekly, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through…

Seattle requires every residence to keep a sufficient number of garbage containers under SMC 21.36.050, with at least…

SCC 7.42.040(2) sets the garbage pickup menu haulers must offer in the county's recycling service zone: weekly mini-can…

Spokane County runs a mandatory regional solid-waste system. Solid waste generated in unincorporated areas must go to a…

Tacoma bars overloading trash and recycling carts beyond their rated capacity when it would damage trucks, create…

Whatcom County doesn't run collection trucks itself; UTC-certificated private haulers do, led by Sanitary Service…

Yakima residents must carry enough weekly pickups or containers so refuse never overfills; overfilled carts draw fines…

Yakima County itself runs no curbside collection. In unincorporated areas, UTC-certificated private haulers like Yakima…

Everett's franchised recycling haulers must service multifamily recycling containers on a regular schedule, clean up…

Auburn requires every single-family customer to keep at least one rigid, service-provider cart as the primary garbage…

Bellingham owners, occupants, and tenants must keep garbage in covered containers; if it's left to pile up, the city…

For automated pickup, Clark County directs residents to place carts and bins at least 5 feet from obstructions with 3…

In unincorporated Cowlitz County it's unlawful to store solid waste where it can blow away, be dragged off, or be…

Edmonds City Code Section 7.80.030(D) requires nonmultifamily homes to be given a recycling container for curbside…

Recycle bins for Everett multifamily properties can't sit in the front-yard setback or the corner-lot street-side…

Federal Way businesses that must set a container or extra unit on a sidewalk or alley for pickup cannot put it out…

Kennewick requires every occupied property to keep sufficient, sanitary cans or receptacles for its solid waste, and…

Kent requires garbage, recycling, and yard waste containers to sit at curbside for residential pickups, with commercial…

Unincorporated King County requires trash and recycling containers to be sturdy, rodent-proof and kept where your…

Kirkland requires garbage, recycling, and yard waste carts to be stored out of public view between collection days…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington requires residents on automated routes to set carts at the curb or alley edge by…

Marysville requires garbage, recycling and yard waste carts to be set at the curb no more than 24 hours before pickup…

PMC 8.05.090 confines residential trash cans to the rear of the front yard setback line the rest of the week. Carts may…

Port Townsend requires garbage, recycling, and yard-waste containers to sit at the curbside for collection, without…

Puyallup's can-service containers must be insect-proof, capped at 32 gallons, fitted with two handles and a tight lid…

Single-family Renton households can put garbage, recycling and yard-waste carts at the curb no earlier than 24 hours…

Sammamish requires every dwelling to keep an approved leakproof, covered outside garbage container and bars any…

SMC 21.36.080 tells Seattle residents exactly where to put garbage containers for pickup and how long they can sit…

Collection containers must be kept on private property, never in the public right-of-way. Set them out no sooner than…

Certificated haulers provide the containers, and materials are collected 'on the improved public road nearest to the…

Spokane Valley makes it a public nuisance to store garbage or recyclables without a receptacle that has a tight-fitting…

In Thurston County's Mixed Use corridor zone, trash and recycling containers must be screened and can't sit between the…

Any trash or garbage collection storage area in unincorporated Whatcom County must be screened behind a solid fence or…

Yakima requires garbage carts at the curb by 6 a.m. on collection day and kept on private property the rest of the…

Tacoma bars storing goods, wares, or containers on a public sidewalk, alley, or street, but carves out an exception…

Pierce County Code sets no countywide curb setout time, so cart placement in unincorporated areas follows the…

Unincorporated Thurston County has no curbside bulky-item pickup: residents self-haul large items and bulky waste to…

Benton County bars depositing car bodies, large trees and limbs, and similar oversized items at any public disposal…

Bulky items like furniture, mattresses, appliances, and electronics are not put in curbside carts. Clark County…

Federal Way has no separate city bulk pickup program; overflow and bulky trash goes out as an 'extra unit' next to your…

Kennewick doesn't offer curbside bulk-item pickup; instead the city's franchised collector must give residential…

Kent requires its contracted collection companies to run a semiannual residential cleanup each spring and fall for…

Unincorporated King County has no curbside bulky-item pickup in its code; residents self-haul large items and…

Kirkland handles large items like appliances, furniture and mattresses through On-Call Bulky Waste Collection, a…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington does not include bulky items such as furniture, appliances, tires, concrete or tree…

Marysville has no curbside bulk pickup; residents request a temporary container from the city utility department for…

Port Townsend's solid waste contractor collects bundled brush and yard waste every other week, but branches over four…

Puyallup does not run a year-round bulk-item curbside pickup. Instead, the city's solid waste contractor holds a…

Large items like furniture, appliances, and junk vehicles are "bulky waste" under RMC 8-1-2 and can't be stored or…

Seattle provides bulky item collection through Seattle Public Utilities and operates transfer stations for large items…

SCC 7.42.040(4)(a) requires every licensed hauler serving unincorporated Snohomish County to offer bulky materials…

Bulky and 'problem' wastes go to county transfer stations under set rules. SCC 8.56.220 limits loose tires to five per…

Tacoma single-family and duplex ratepayers get two free Call-2-Haul bulk pickups a year, capped at three large items…

No active landfill operates in Whatcom County. Large items go out through hauler bulky-item pickup by appointment, or…

Bulky items like appliances, furniture and tree limbs don't go in regular Yakima carts: each bulk refuse collection…

Pierce County residents dispose of bulky items, appliances and extra debris either through their WUTC-certificated…

Washington requires curbside recycling availability in urban areas under RCW 70A.205 and mandates organics collection…

Auburn's contracted haulers are the city's exclusive agents for collecting recyclables citywide, though residents may…

Kirkland requires multifamily and commercial properties to participate in recycling collection of at least newspapers…

Seattle requires every resident in a single-family home, multifamily building, or mixed-use structure to separate…

Bellevue Municipal Code designates eight material categories that count as recyclable under city law: newspaper, mixed…

Bellingham makes it unlawful to collect baled paper, cardboard, aluminum or other recyclable material from any premises…

Washington does not force households to recycle, but state law (RCW 70A.205) requires Benton County's solid-waste plan…

Curbside recycling is available to all Clark County residents and is mandatory in some cities and urban growth areas…

Every waste collector serving Edmonds must make curbside recycling services available under Edmonds City Code Section…

Federal Way residents place recyclables in service-provider recycling bins or carts at curbside, and those containers…

Certificated haulers in unincorporated King County must offer curbside recycling to every single-family home and…

Curbside recycling is not opt-in for most Kitsap County households: if a single-family customer already gets garbage…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington requires the City's licensed contractor to provide curbside commingled recycling to…

New multifamily, office, and institutional developments in Marysville must build dedicated recyclables storage space…

Pierce County Code 8.29.030 requires certificated haulers to offer every-other-week, single-stream curbside recycling…

Port Townsend requires curbside recyclables in contractor-approved containers, and every developed property must…

Puyallup's contractor supplies a city-approved recycling container to any single-family or multifamily property whose…

Sammamish's adopted building code requires every new building to include dedicated storage space for recycled…

In unincorporated Snohomish County, garbage service can't be sold without recycling collection bundled in. SCC…

In urban unincorporated Spokane County, certified haulers must collect co-mingled recyclables from every eligible…

Tacoma treats a recycling or yard waste cart contaminated with garbage as ordinary trash, billing it as an extra reload…

Thurston County sets the minimum recycling collection service every unincorporated household must receive under Code…

Anyone with garbage service in unincorporated Whatcom County must also get recycling pickup under WCC § 8.10.050: at…

Washington does not force households to recycle, but state law (RCW 70A.205) requires Yakima County's solid-waste plan…

Kennewick sets no blanket curbside recycling mandate: city code lets the City Manager order residents to segregate…

Lynnwood, Washington, does not fix recycling details in its municipal code; LMC 7.15.010 has the director of public…

PMC 8.05.190 gives Pasco the option, not a standing mandate, to require households and businesses to separate paper…

Recycling collection is voluntary in Renton, but once recyclables are placed at the curb under RMC 8-1-3(E), only the…

Seattle's curbside compostable-waste program is mandatory, not optional: SMC 21.36.085.A requires food scraps and other…

Auburn makes it unlawful to mix yard debris or food scraps into the garbage or recycling set out at curbside; ACC…

Bellingham Municipal Code § 9.12.020(C) makes it unlawful for anyone besides the city's contracted hauler to collect or…

In unincorporated King County, garbage carts can't contain yard waste: haulers are barred from collecting a container…

Renton's development code makes compostables storage mandatory infrastructure, not optional: every new or infill…

Tacoma requires customers to separate yard and food waste from other solid waste and keep it separated for curbside…

Auburn's solid waste code does not publish a list of skipped holidays but builds the shift directly into the set-out…

Certificated haulers in unincorporated King County must set their own holiday schedule and tell the county and…

When a Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington collection day falls on a holiday, LMC 13.06.130 pushes the pickup to the…

When one of the City's legal holidays falls on a weekday and Renton's garbage contractor doesn't work that day…

Dumping solid waste anywhere but a county-approved disposal site, or into someone else's collection container without…

Dumping solid waste in Edmonds outside the state-adopted disposal rules is a crime under Edmonds City Code Section…

Dumping garbage, refuse or waste anywhere in Everett outside the authorized disposal system is a criminal offense…

Dumping solid waste anywhere but an approved receptacle or official disposal facility is unlawful in unincorporated…

KMC 11.64.040 bans dumping litter, garbage, or debris on public property or on private property you don't own…

Dumping any waste on public or private property that isn't a designated legal dump site is a public nuisance in…

Lynnwood, Washington, in Snohomish County, bans illegal dumping through LMC 7.14.070, which adopts RCW 70.95.240…

Dumping garbage or refuse on any street, alley, or public or private property without the receptacle owner's consent is…

Dumping garbage, sewage or debris on any street, public property or private property without the owner's consent is a…

Port Townsend bans dumping refuse or garbage on property you don't own, public or private, unless the owner gives prior…

Dumping garbage, recyclables, or yard waste on a street, alley, or someone else's property in Renton violates RMC…

Dumping solid waste anywhere in Seattle without authorization is unlawful under SMC 21.36.420. Anything over 1 cubic…

Dumping any solid waste in unincorporated Skagit County outside a permitted facility violates SCC 12.16.080. The Health…

Dumping solid waste or source-separated material on any street, public place or private property in Federal Way outside…

Kennewick declares it a public nuisance to throw, deposit, or dump garbage, waste, refuse, litter, or debris in any…

Dumping solid waste in Kent without a permit is unlawful under RCW 70A.205.195, adopted into Kent City Code 9.02.535…

Dumping litter or waste on public or private property in Tacoma is a civil infraction for small amounts and escalates…

Dumping or dropping litter anywhere in Auburn outside an approved container is unlawful under ACC 8.16.030, a civil…

Bellevue's Anti-Litter Code, BCC 9.11.030, bans throwing or depositing litter on streets, sidewalks, private property…

Bellingham Municipal Code § 9.04.050 bars dumping or depositing manure, garbage, offal, or any vegetable or animal…

Unincorporated Benton County bans dumping garbage, offal or manure into any ditch, ravine, river, stream, lake, pond or…

Dumping trash on public or private land in Clark County is prohibited by CCC Chapter 9.28 littering and state law RCW…

Throwing, dropping or depositing litter on any road, street, alley, sidewalk, other property or waters in…

Grant County Code 8.28.030 makes it unlawful to throw, drop or otherwise dispose of litter on any road, other public…

Dumping or allowing materials to remain on Lakewood streets, rights-of-way or adjoining property is a civil infraction…

Pasco's solid waste code makes it a violation to transport solid waste over city streets and alleys and dump it…

Dumping, burying or burning solid waste on any Puyallup street, alley, public place or private property is a…

Sammamish Municipal Code 12.05.050 adopts King County Code 12.36.010, which prohibits dumping trash in waterways, as…

Dumping solid waste anywhere except a permitted site is unlawful. Under SCC 7.35.120, littering up to one cubic foot is…

Dumping litter or solid waste on any public or private land in unincorporated Spokane County is prohibited by SCC…

Spokane Valley prosecutes illegal dumping as littering under SVMC § 8.30.030, which adopts the state litter statute…

Dumping solid waste anywhere except a designated county transfer station or drop-box facility is unlawful, and Thurston…

Yakima Municipal Code Section 4.16.025 makes it unlawful to throw, place or scatter refuse in or upon a refuse…

Yakima County's Property Maintenance Code makes illegal dumping a nuisance violation: dumping of any kind on public or…

Auburn defines yard debris narrowly under ACC 8.08.030: leaves and grass or plant clippings only, capped at four inches…

Bellevue bars residents from mixing yard waste into garbage or recycling containers. Yard debris (grass, leaves, weeds…

Edmonds requires biweekly yard waste collection for nonmultifamily homes from March through November under Edmonds City…

Everett requires franchised haulers to offer yard debris pickup to apartment buildings, condos, and trailer parks with…

Federal Way bans mixing yard debris with garbage or recyclables. Only yard debris from residents enrolled in the city's…

Unincorporated Grant County treats yard waste, trees, shrubs and grass clippings as regulated natural vegetation under…

Kennewick lets residents bundle shrubs, trees under six inches in diameter, small limbs, and lumber for pickup, but…

Kent bans mixing yard waste into a garbage or recycling container under KCC 7.03.045(C). Yard waste must go in a…

Unincorporated King County requires yard waste to be kept out of the garbage can. Certificated haulers won't empty a…

Kirkland gives every residential collection customer one free gray yard waste cart alongside the blue recycling cart…

Yard waste in unincorporated Kitsap County goes out with compostable organics collection, not loose at the curb without…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington provides residential yard waste collection under LMC 13.06.110(B) every other week…

Lynnwood, Washington, in Snohomish County, bars mixing yard waste with garbage under LMC 7.15.060. Once yard waste or…

PMC 8.05.160 lets Pasco residents bundle boxes, shrubs, and small tree limbs under six inches in diameter for…

Port Townsend's solid waste contractor collects yard waste biweekly, alternating with recycling, with strict bundle and…

Puyallup's contracted hauler must offer biweekly curbside yard waste pickup year-round, on the same week as recycling…

Seattle keeps yard waste out of the garbage stream under SMC 21.36.085: 'Yardwaste shall not be mixed with garbage…

Within the county's designated yard debris service zone, haulers must pick up bundled or containerized yard debris at…

Tacoma defines yard waste as ordinary yard-maintenance vegetation and gives residents two free 90-gallon carts for it…

Thurston County accepts yard and garden trimmings at the Waste and Recovery Center in Lacey for a per-ton fee…

Yakima's seasonal yard waste carts take only grass, leaves and plant trimmings under three inches thick; larger…

Yard waste pickup is voluntary in Renton but, once carts go to the curb, only the City's contractor may collect them…

Yard waste pickup in Marysville is opt-in curbside service through the city's contractor, not a mandatory part of…

Unincorporated Whatcom County runs no curbside yard waste program. WCC § 8.10.050(C)(1)(g) lists yard waste among…

Placing a trash dumpster, storage container, or construction trailer in a Tacoma street or sidewalk right-of-way…

Multiplex, multifamily and commercial dumpsters, trash compactors and recycling bins in Auburn must be fully screened…

BCC 9.11.060 requires every dumpster and drop box in Bellevue to carry a lid that stays closed to keep out animals and…

Commercial developments in Bellingham, Washington must screen dumpsters and recycling storage from arterial streets…

In Edmonds's CG General Commercial zone, a loading zone or trash compactor area next to a residential lot must be…

Federal Way requires commercial and multifamily dumpster enclosures to give collectors direct, in-line access: 18 feet…

In unincorporated Grant County, non-residential buildings of 10,000 square feet or more must provide off-street loading…

Kennewick requires garbage cans, bins, and dumpsters in commercial, industrial, and multi-family zones to sit inside a…

Kent subjects commercial, industrial, and multifamily dumpster locations to fire department inspection under KCC…

Kirkland commercial and multifamily properties can only store refuse in authorized garbage cans or detachable…

A commercial dumpster, recycling area or small storage yard under 200 square feet in Lakewood must sit behind a 5-foot…

Lynnwood requires every commercial or multifamily refuse and recycling collection area to sit at least 25 feet from a…

Marysville requires dumpsters and other trash/recycling collection areas to be screened from view of neighbors and the…

Pasco requires trash collection areas in commercial and industrial zones to be screened from residential property under…

New civic, commercial, and industrial developments in unincorporated Pierce County must hide outdoor garbage and…

Port Townsend requires commercial dumpsters and drop boxes (roll-offs) to sit on the customer's own property, never in…

Renton requires commercial and industrial refuse and recycling deposit areas to sit at least 50 feet from residentially…

SMC 23.54.040 sets exact placement, paving, and access standards for commercial dumpsters and roll-off containers at…

Unincorporated Snohomish County requires every outdoor dumpster, recycling, or storage area to be screened under SCC…

In unincorporated Spokane County's Commercial zones, every outdoor trash, garbage and refuse storage area, including…

Spokane Valley requires every dumpster serving a multifamily or nonresidential property to sit inside a six-foot-high…

Thurston County's Light Industrial District zoning code requires refuse containers to be screened by landscaping or…

Commercial and institutional trash and dumpster storage areas in unincorporated Whatcom County must be screened from…

Yakima requires business-class drop-off bins of 1.5 cubic yards or more to sit at least five feet from combustible…

Tacoma collects residential solid waste once every two weeks through mandatory, compulsory city-run service: residents…

Kent requires nearly every household and business to subscribe to city-contracted solid waste service, with residential…

Pasco Municipal Code 8.05.050 makes trash collection compulsory: no one but the City's contracted hauler may collect…

Auburn requires its contracted solid waste service providers to collect garbage from every single-family, multifamily…

Bellingham Municipal Code § 9.12.040(B) makes garbage collection and disposal service compulsory for every…

The county can require a property owner or occupant in unincorporated Cowlitz County to sign up for regularly scheduled…

All solid waste generated inside Edmonds city limits must go through the Snohomish County disposal system under Edmonds…

Federal Way requires garbage containers to stay hidden or behind the front building line except on pickup day, and…

Kennewick Municipal Code § 9.04.040 requires every residence, commercial establishment and multi-family property to…

In unincorporated King County, certificated garbage haulers must pick up recyclables at least twice a month and put…

Recycling in unincorporated Kitsap County runs on a fixed biweekly clock tied to garbage day. Kitsap County Code…

In Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington, every dwelling, apartment house and business that generates garbage or trash…

Marysville requires every occupied property to use the city's garbage collection service, with a narrow exemption for…

Port Townsend requires every developed property and business to subscribe to the city's contracted solid waste service…

Every property inside Puyallup city limits must carry solid waste collection service through the city's contracted…

Garbage collection is compulsory for every person and property in Renton under RMC 8-1-1; RMC 8-1-8 sets residential…

Seattle Public Utilities runs residential garbage collection on a fixed once-a-week schedule under SMC 21.40.050…

SCC 7.42.040(2)(b) sets the pickup cadence in the county's recycling service zone: weekly recycling collection for…

Thurston County assigns its residential recycling collection program to five certificated solid waste haulers rather…

Certified haulers must collect residential garbage in unincorporated Whatcom County on a schedule set by WCC §…

Residential trash service is compulsory in Yakima: every household must be assessed a refuse fee and put carts at the…

Unincorporated Franklin County does not fix collection days by ordinance: Franklin County Code § 8.36.020 leaves the…

Lakewood, Pierce County, Washington bars anyone other than the City's licensed garbage contractor from collecting…

PMC 8.05.130 makes it unlawful for anyone except City or contractor agents to scavenge or salvage solid waste or…

Every commercial establishment in Seattle, including self-haulers, must separate paper, cardboard, glass and plastic…

Auburn makes it unlawful to place nonrecyclable solid waste into any container, curb spot, or drop-off site designated…

Bellevue designates eight materials, including newspaper, mixed paper, aluminum, glass, PET bottles, and yard waste, as…

In unincorporated Cowlitz County, high-volume sellers of lubricating oil and vehicle oil filters must post a used oil…

Edmonds City Code Chapter 7.80 defines the citywide recycling services WUTC-certificated haulers must offer in Edmonds…

Federal Way requires multifamily, nonresidential and mixed-use occupants to separate recyclables like newspapers, mixed…

Kent requires collection companies to pick up recyclables at no extra charge for residential and commercial multifamily…

Kitsap County standardizes recycling carts by lid color: unincorporated households sort by container, not by bagging…

Port Townsend residents and businesses must set recyclables out in the solid waste contractor's approved recycling…

Puyallup can drop a customer from recycling service if recyclable materials keep turning up in the regular trash…

Anyone can collect residential recyclables in Renton up until they're set at the curb; after that, ownership transfers…

Skagit County requires solid waste generated in the unincorporated area to go to a designated disposal site under SCC…

Snohomish County won't let a hauler sell garbage-only service in the recycling zone: SCC 7.42.040(2)(a) requires…

Certified haulers serving unincorporated Spokane County's urban areas must collect a defined list of recyclables under…

Thurston County's solid waste code does not stand in the way of recycling: Section 8.34.050 confirms the chapter never…