Olympia, WA Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 13.12.110 is the container rule behind curbside garbage pickup in the City of Olympia. Subsection A makes it the duty of every person in possession or control of any premises at all times to keep suitable cans for garbage and refuse and to deposit the garbage and refuse in them. Subsection B sets the specification. The can must be watertight and made of material suitable to the solid waste section. It cannot weigh more than seventy pounds including the contents, nor more than twenty-two pounds empty, and it cannot hold more than thirty-two gallons. It must have two secure handles at the sides, with no sharp metal edges or any other condition that would make handling dangerous. Lids must be replaced by the person placing garbage in the can, and the can must be kept sanitary, with the outside clean and free from accumulating grease and decomposing materials.

Subsection D lets the director of public works adopt regulations for the deposit of garbage and refuse, for drainage, and for wrapping the garbage in paper or other material, so that no garbage can becomes a health menace. Section 13.12.200 adds that rules made by the city manager for the solid waste section carry the force of law once published in the official newspaper.

Smaller service has its own limit. Under § 13.12.130(A), a customer on the ten-gallon can service cannot place out more than one ten-gallon can for collection or place additional garbage or refuse outside the can. Only the solid waste section collects: § 13.12.070 gives it the exclusive right to gather garbage and refuse within the city, with exceptions for compost piles, grass clippings, hedge or tree clippings, and owner hauling of ashes, tin cans or other noncombustible refuse to the landfill. Section 13.12.090 lets the public works director permit the hauling of swill from restaurants, processing plants and warehouses on terms the director sets.