Curbside recycling is provided to all Sammamish customers through the contracted hauler, and recyclables must be 'empty, clean, and dry.' Accepted materials include standard recyclables plus milk cartons. There is no city recycling-mandate ordinance; service follows the hauler contract and King County's Re+ landfill-diversion approach.
Sammamish provides curbside recycling as part of its bundled contracted collection (garbage, recycling, and yard waste/compost). The City does not impose a recycling mandate by ordinance, but the hauler's program sets material standards: per the City's solid waste FAQ, 'Recycling must be empty, clean, and dry,' and accepted items include standard curbside recyclables 'plus milk cartons.' Effective January 1, 2024, the City expanded curbside recycling so residents can schedule free collection of harder-to-recycle materials — batteries, small appliances, scrap metal, household items, fluorescent tubes/bulbs, and rigid plastics — by contacting Republic Services at (206) 777-6441. The City frames recycling within King County's 'Re+' program, stating Sammamish 'is working towards participation in King County's approach to keeping valuable materials out of the landfill to reduce climate impacts.' SMC 16.25.225(3)(c) ties into this by requiring that the recycling and solid-waste storage space mandated by WAC 51-50-009 be maintained and accessible to occupants and haulers. For sorting questions, the City directs residents to the 'Recycle, Garbage, and Compost Guide' and King County's 'What do I do with...?' tool. Contamination (non-empty, dirty or wet items) can lead the hauler to reject a load; specific contamination consequences are set by the hauler, not a city penalty.
Sammamish has no ordinance fining residents for failing to recycle. Recyclables that are not empty, clean and dry, or that include non-accepted materials, may be rejected or treated as contamination by the hauler under its program rules. Property-side storage of recyclables still must meet SMC 16.25.225 (approved containers, no accumulation, WAC 51-50-009 storage space), enforceable as a nuisance under SMC Title 23.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Sammamish does not prohibit backyard composting, and curbside yard waste/compost collection is available citywide. Curbside garbage, recycling, and yard-wast...
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Artificial turf is allowed in Sammamish and counts as 'yard area' for landscaping purposes. However, the city's surface water rules (based on the King County...
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Sammamish encourages native and drought-tolerant landscaping and requires it in certain contexts. The landscaping code (SDC 21.07.070) calls for drought-tole...
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Rainwater harvesting is legal in Sammamish and across Washington. Under a 2009 Washington Department of Ecology policy, collecting rooftop rainwater for on-s...
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The City of Sammamish runs no water utility and imposes no mandatory citywide watering restrictions. Water comes from special-purpose districts — chiefly Sam...
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Sammamish does not set a numeric weed-height limit, but its landscaping standards (SDC 21.07.070) prohibit any plant on the King County noxious weed list acr...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in King County.
See how other cities in King County handle recycling requirements.
See how Sammamish's recycling requirements rules stack up against other locations.
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