Bothell, WA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- First response
- Notification tag naming the specific problems
- Collector's options
- Reject the materials or dump them as garbage
- Fees
- Return trip fee or city contamination fee
- Fee amount source
- Hauler contract or annual fee resolution of city council
- Recurrent contamination
- Public works director can order cart removed
- Accepted materials list
- On file at city clerk and on hauler website
Summary
In the City of Bothell, Washington, a recycling or organics cart with visible contamination gets a notification tag and can be rejected or dumped as garbage. The customer can be charged a return trip fee or a city contamination fee, and recurrent offenders can have the cart removed by order of the public works director.
A. To prevent contamination of recycling and organics at processing facilities, the city and city-contracted collector will identify recycling and organic collection containers with visible contamination. For any contaminated container, the collector shall place in a prominent location a notification tag that identifies the specific problem(s) and may reject the materials for collection or have the materials dumped as garbage. ... B. When containers are identified as contaminated, the customer may be charged a return trip fee by the city-contracted collector pursuant to the applicable contract or may be charged a contamination fee by the city in an amount established by the annual fee resolution approved by the city council. ... D. The public works director or designee may order the city-contracted collector to remove the recycling and/or organics container(s) from a customer who recurrently places contaminated container(s) out for collection.
Full Breakdown
Bothell Municipal Code § 8.20.191 is the City of Bothell's contamination rule for recycling and organics carts. Its stated purpose is preventing contamination of recycling and organics at processing facilities. To do that, the city and the city-contracted collector identify recycling and organic collection containers with visible contamination.
For any contaminated container, the collector places a notification tag in a prominent location identifying the specific problems. The collector can reject the materials for collection or have them dumped as garbage, and must notify the city in a reasonably prompt manner of any contaminated containers, giving the city the same information included on the tag.
Money follows contamination in two ways. Under subsection B, the customer can be charged a return trip fee by the city-contracted collector pursuant to the applicable contract, or a contamination fee by the city in an amount established by the annual fee resolution approved by the city council. Under subsection C, if a contaminated container is dumped as garbage, the customer is responsible to the collector for the cost of dumping the materials as garbage.
The ultimate step is removal. The public works director or designee can order the collector to remove the recycling or organics container from a customer who recurrently places contaminated containers out for collection.
Section 8.20.010(F) defines contamination as the amount of solid waste (garbage) placed incorrectly on purpose or by accident in recycling or organics carts. Section 8.20.010(L) defines recyclables as the materials designated as part of the residential, multifamily or commercial recycling collection program in the contract with the solid waste hauler, and that contract and list of recyclable materials are on file at the city clerk's office and on the hauler's website.
Other provisions complete the picture. Section 8.20.200 makes it unlawful to deposit burning or hot materials in any refuse receptacle, and § 8.20.270 requires every person to dispose of garbage, recycling and organics properly according to the chapter.
Violations & Fines
Contaminated recycling carts draw a notification tag, possible rejection, and either a return trip fee under the hauler contract or a contamination fee set in the city's annual fee resolution. Dumping the load as garbage is billed to the customer. Recurrent contamination can end with the cart removed. Placing burning materials in a receptacle is unlawful under § 8.20.200, and repeat infractions under the chapter become misdemeanors under § 8.20.280(E).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is contamination in Bothell recycling?
Where do I find the list of accepted recyclables?
What fees apply to a contaminated cart?
Can Bothell take my recycling cart away?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bothell
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