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

RMC § 15.03.020(J) limits the blue recycling container to cardboard, plastic, newspaper, aluminum and tin, and states flatly that no glass is allowed in the recycling containers. The city, which under RMC § 15.03.020(A) owns every refuse and recycling container it issues, treats contamination of the recycling cart with glass or other prohibited material as a violation subject to the enforcement chapter at RMC § 15.05.010. That means the public works director can first place a compliance tag on the cart describing the problem and the fix required, then escalate to an administrative notice of violation carrying a fine between $10.00 and $100.00 per occurrence, with the notice also authorizing revocation of the container and service.

If the same household receives two administrative notices for the same or similar conduct and a further violation occurs, the case is forwarded to Richland's code enforcement division for a civil infraction under RMC § 10.02.050(E). On the service side, residential recycling collection is optional and delivered on request under RMC § 15.03.050(D), picked up every other week rather than weekly, and RMC § 15.03.060(F) confirms the same five-material list applies to the commingled residential program and warns that failing to keep the cart to those materials adds an extra refuse container fee to the utility bill on top of any RMC § 15.05.010 enforcement.