Cowlitz County, WA Trash & Recycling: Collection Schedule (2026)

260(H), part of the general requirements for solid waste in unincorporated Cowlitz County, gives the Department of Building and Planning authority to require an owner or occupant to obtain regularly scheduled commercial solid waste collection and transportation service, but only from a company that offers such service in that geographical area. Where no commercial collection service is available, the Department can instead require the owner or occupant to implement a solid waste removal schedule for disposal at an approved facility. The trigger for either requirement is enforcement-driven rather than automatic: the code allows the Department to impose it only if it is determined that the owner or occupant will repeat or has repeated violations of the chapter, meaning mandatory scheduled service functions as a compliance tool for chronic solid waste violators rather than a blanket subscription mandate on every household.

270(D) to order an increased collection frequency or a larger container where an existing receptacle is insufficient for a property's needs. 30 is not automatically forced onto a subscription service; the obligation attaches once the Department documents a pattern of noncompliance and issues the order. 280.