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

Recycling in the City of Olympia is encouraged through the garbage rate, not mandated, under § 13.12.130(B). Customers who recycle are given a reduced garbage rate. For the purpose of the program, a customer must recycle at least two categories of material during a calendar month. The categories printed in the code are aluminum cans, tin cans, newspapers, glass and mixed waste paper.

A customer qualifies for the reduced rate in one of two ways. The first is to contact the city for a recycling container and, during a calendar month, recycle at least two categories of material through the city's curbside recycling program. The second is to mail a current receipt from a recycling center for two categories of a material with the utility payment. The rate schedule in Title 4 prices residential carts with a Recycle rate and a Nonrecycle rate for each cart size, so the qualification in § 13.12.130 decides which rate appears on the bill.

Section 13.12.130(A) adds a smaller-can option. Customers are authorized to use a ten-gallon can, but a customer on the ten-gallon service will not be allowed to place out more than one ten-gallon can or place additional garbage or refuse outside the can. The customer applies through the city clerk-treasurer's office, and the ten-gallon rate becomes effective the billing period immediately following the city's receipt of the application.

The code defines a "recyclable" in § 13.12.020 as any discarded material that can be incorporated into a manufacturing process as a raw material. Under § 13.12.040, receipts from the sale of recyclables become part of the solid waste fund but are accounted separately. Recycle containers themselves are covered in § 13.12.135.