Mason County, WA Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 13.30.030(D) of the Mason County Code lists the recyclable materials every certificated hauler must collect, at a minimum, from single-family curbside customers in the unincorporated county, provided the materials are properly prepared to the description given. Cardboard covers corrugated cardboard and Kraft paper, including unbleached, unwaxed paper with a ruffled inner liner. Metal cans covers tin-coated steel and aluminum cans, but specifically excludes aerosol spray cans. Mixed-waste paper, quoted separately in the code, sweeps in glossy paper, magazines, catalogues, phone books, windowed envelopes, packing paper, chipboard such as cereal boxes, and refrigerated milk-style cartons, while excluding nonrefrigerated cartons because of their aluminum lining.

Newspaper covers printed groundwood newsprint along with any glossy advertising inserts and supplemental magazines delivered with it. Plastics are limited to bottles and jars numbered 1 and 2, meaning PET soft-drink, water, and salad-dressing containers and HDPE milk, shampoo, and detergent containers, and the code specifically defines a qualifying bottle as one with a neck narrower than its base. Subsection (E) lets a hauler voluntarily collect more than this list, including food waste, yard waste, scrap metal, or glass, without violating the chapter, and subsection (F) requires the county to negotiate with haulers before amending the required list.

Because this is a floor rather than a ceiling, residents should check their specific hauler's program for any additional materials accepted beyond the minimum the county mandates here.