Bellingham, WA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

010 as food scraps, food-soiled papers, yard waste, and contractor-approved compostable packaging, with the accepted list published on the contractor's website. 020(C) then locks collection of that material down: it is unlawful for any person, other than a contractor holding a solid waste collection contract with the city, to collect, remove, haul, or dispose of food scraps, food-soiled papers, yard waste, and contractor-approved compostable packaging. This sits alongside subsection (A), which bars anyone but the city's contractor from hauling garbage or refuse generally, and subsection (B), which restricts hauling of baled recyclables such as paper, cardboard, and aluminum without the property owner's consent.

The rule reaches every address the contractor serves; it is not opt-in. 030(B) allows residents to compost vegetable waste, ashes, leaves, grass, plant cuttings, and other organic wastes on private premises or at a designated public composting site instead of setting it out for collection, as long as the site is kept free of odors, exposed raw garbage, scattered debris, and pest risk. 60 BMC. 060.