Bellevue, WA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- BCC 9.26.030
- Designated materials
- 8 categories, incl. paper, glass, PET, metals
- List can change
- Administratively, by market conditions
- County role
- Excluded from setting service levels (9.26.020)
- Delivery
- Via city-contracted hauler, not city crews
Summary
Bellevue Municipal Code designates eight material categories that count as recyclable under city law: newspaper, mixed paper, aluminum containers, glass containers, bi-metal containers, PET plastic bottles, yard waste and scrap nonferrous metals. The city administers collection through its contracted hauler rather than a separate residential mandate.
A. Pursuant to RCW 70.95.030, the city designates the following materials as recyclable materials: 1. Newspaper; 2. Mixed paper; 3. Aluminum containers; 4. Glass containers; 5. Bi-metal containers; 6. PET plastic bottles; 7. Yard waste; 8. Scrap nonferrous metals. B. Other materials may be administratively designated as recyclable as markets become available and as the net cost of collecting and recycling that material become equal to or less than the cost of collection, transfer, long haul and disposal.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 6929, passed July 14, 2026).
Full Breakdown
030. The eight designated categories are newspaper, mixed paper, aluminum containers, glass containers, bi-metal containers, PET plastic bottles, yard waste, and scrap nonferrous metals. The city manager's office can add or remove materials from that list administratively as recycling markets change and as the net cost of collecting and processing a material becomes equal to or less than the cost of straight disposal, so the list is not fixed forever. 95 RCW. 020 further blocks King County from imposing its own service levels for solid waste handling inside Bellevue's corporate limits, meaning the city, not the county, controls how residential recycling service is delivered here even though the county sets the regional plan.
Bellevue does not run its own recycling trucks; collection is delivered through the city's contracted hauler under rates and service levels the city manager is authorized to set and revise. Residents who want the current list of accepted curbside items or bin specifications should check the utilities department's published collection guide, since the code itself only fixes the legal category, not the bin logistics.
Violations & Fines
The code does not attach a fine or infraction to putting a non-designated item in a recycling bin; enforcement of sorting mistakes runs through the hauler's contract terms and public education, not BCC criminal or civil penalties. Mixing recyclables with prohibited materials can result in a load being rejected for pickup under the hauler's service rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
What materials must Bellevue treat as recyclable?
Does King County set Bellevue's recycling rules?
Who actually collects Bellevue's recycling?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bellevue
Compare Bellevue to another location·View the Washington trash & recycling overview
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Recycling Requirements in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle recycling requirements.