Thurston County, WA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

010 defines the terms the recycling chapter runs on: 'recyclable materials' covers anything recoverable from the waste stream that can become raw feedstock for remanufacture, including aluminum, scrap metal, paper and paperboard, plastics, yard debris, and demolition debris; 'recycling' means transforming or remanufacturing those materials into marketable goods instead of sending them to a landfill or incinerator; and 'source separation' means sorting different kinds of solid waste at the place it originates. Coverage is defined by structure type, too: a 'single family residence' is one or more rooms arranged as a complete independent living unit, and a 'small complex' is any structure with fewer than five single-family residences.

020 requires that the minimum levels and types of residential recycling collection service for both the urban and rural areas of the county be set out in Exhibit A to the ordinance, on file with the clerk of the board of county commissioners, and updated whenever the board amends that exhibit. Coverage excludes the city of Olympia and the town of Rainier, which run their own programs. 030 draws the urban and rural service boundaries themselves in a companion Exhibit B, also on file with the clerk, so which minimum-service tier applies to a given address depends on which side of that mapped line the property sits. 050's severability clause keeps the rest of the chapter in force.