Seattle announces ambitious recycling plan, scraps Georgetown trash-transfer station

Seattle officials are trashing plans for a new Georgetown transfer station while boosting efforts to encourage the city's businesses and residents to recycle everything from construction debris to food scraps.

At a news conference this morning, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and City Councilmember Richard Conlin announced what they called "an ambitious plan" to reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills, increase recycling and rebuild the city's two aging transfer stations in South Park and Wallingford.

The City Council's Environment, Emergency Management and Utilities committee — which is chaired by Conlin and oversees garbage and recycling efforts — is expected to vote on the waste-reduction plan at its July 10 meeting, according to a city news release.

The new plan was prompted by a council analysis of Seattle's recycling potential and studies outlining the need for new or renovated recycling and disposal stations, the release says.

Currently, the city has a 60 percent recycling goal. Under the proposed plan, that goal would be increased to 70 percent. According to the release, every pound of recycled waste reduces greenhouse-gas emissions by two to three pounds.

The plan looks to limit the amount of garbage Seattle sends to landfills to 440,000 tons a year, the amount that ended up on trash heaps in 2006. Single-family households, which now have the option of subscribing to food-waste collection, will be required to separate their food scraps by 2009. City officials are to examine ways to promote greater recycling among developers and contractors. City employees will also be instructed to study a possible ban on such products as plastic bags and Styrofoam, including an evaluation of available substitutes for banned items.

Reduced garbage rates and pick-up fees could be used as an incentive to encourage business to increase recycling, the release says.

Instead of building a new transfer station on Corgiat Avenue south of Georgetown — a controversial plan that sparked complaints the neighborhood was being turned into a dumping ground — the city plans to rebuild and reconfigure the city's existing transfer stations. Both were built in the 1960s, and officials say they are outdated, frequently break down and lack adequate environmental controls. It is unclear how much the proposed improvements will cost.