Lakewood, WA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

110(A) requires the contractor to make commingled recycling available to residential customers, collected curbside on a schedule that lines up with the regular garbage route. The accepted stream is broad: newspapers, cardboard, magazines, mail, mixed paper, catalogs, tin and aluminum cans, milk jugs and plastic bottles with necks smaller than their bases, paper milk-type cartons, phone books, shredded paper, paper bags, cereal boxes and paper frozen food boxes. Subsection (A)(1) excludes a long list of look-alikes that contaminate the stream: glass jars and containers, ceramics, Styrofoam peanuts and containers, batteries, aerosol cans, oil bottles and other toxic containers, plastic tubs, lids, bags and cups, foil, light bulbs, potato chip bags, frozen food bags, pill bottles, juice boxes, clothes hangers, and food-contaminated paper such as plates, napkins or pizza boxes.

The commingled cart itself is supplied by the contractor and remains the contractor's property. 110(A)(3), and larger buildings that already have a container, drop box or compactor of one cubic yard or more are charged per dwelling unit at the multifamily rate. 110(A)(4) are only billed when the service is actually provided.