Recycling, yard-waste queries on new rules are answered

Starting March 30, Seattle will mandate food- and yard-waste service, the first city in King County to do so.

The change has prompted questions about various recycling rules in Seattle and King County. On Wednesday, at seattletimes.com, readers got some of their Seattle recycling questions answered by Brett Stav, senior planning and development specialist for Seattle Public Utilities.

Tom Watson, project manager for King County's Recycling and Environmental Services, answered questions about recycling, more generally, around the county.

Here are excerpts:

Q: I have a hard time knowing which plastic containers can be recycled. Will this change provide clearer rules on what type of plastic must go into the trash vs. the recycle container?

Watson: Seattle is the first local community to begin collecting all plastic food containers for recycling. Most other cities in King County now accept only plastic bottles and dairy tubs. As more markets develop and stabilize for recycled plastics, other cities may also begin accepting more types of plastics.

Q: Looking at the mailer we received [in Seattle], it looks like we will be able to recycle more items but will be limited to a smaller recycling receptacle than we now have — is this the case, or is the mailer confusing me?

Stav: Unless you ask for something different, you will keep the same containers for garbage, recycling and food/yard waste.

Q: Do you know if it is OK to include the same compostables (meat, fish, dairy) in yard waste in other cities, specifically Edmonds and Renton?

Watson: You can include meat, fish and dairy (with the other food waste) in your yard-waste bin in Renton, Edmonds and many other area cities. Check with your city to confirm.

Q: We live in a town-home development with eight units. We have a small caged-in area and we're worried we won't be able to fit eight new containers plus our garbage can and recycling bins. Help!

Stav: Call us. We can find containers that fit your needs: 206-684-3000.

Q: Can I recycle the black plastic food trays such as those that come with Lean Cuisine (and other brands)? If so, can I do that now or must I wait until service changes on March 30?

Stav: Starting March 30 [in Seattle], you sure can recycle it!

Q: I guess the better question now is, what can't we recycle? I'm assuming plastic bags and packaging still have to be put in the garbage.

Watson: In Seattle, grocery and shopping plastic bags can be recycled [in a "bag of bags," not loose]. Plastic packaging other than food containers and plant pots is still generally not accepted for recycling in Seattle. Rules are different elsewhere — check with your city.

Q: With regard to plastic bottles, are the lids now recyclable and what of the plastic rings around the neck of the plastic bottles do they need to be removed?

Stav: All lids are recyclable if they are wider than 3 inches (smaller ones jam the machinery). The recycling process sorts out the little ring around the bottle — you can leave it on. Six-pack rings, however, go in the GARBAGE.

Q: What exactly has changed in the processing of recycling that allows you now to take more plastics.

Stav: We recently upgraded our recycling facility — it now uses optic lasers to help identify more plastic resins.

Q: When will styrene blocks be recyclable?

Watson: King County has been working to develop recycling options for those large polystyrene (Styrofoam) blocks, but unfortunately no current recycling locations exist for those.

Q: What new enforcement measures are also being implemented to ensure that people are complying with this new recycling program. ... What about enforcement of commercial recycling? I come into contact with businesses every day that don't recycle.

Stav: We have a team of inspectors that go out and inspect commercial and apartment Dumpsters. Those properties that repeatedly put too many recyclables in the garbage face fines. For homeowners, if too much recycling is put out in their garbage, it will be left behind until it is sorted out on their next collection day.

Q: I live in an apartment — will I have access to a food-waste bin?

Watson: Check with your apartment manager. Food-waste collection at apartments and condos is being phased in in Seattle, and some other area cities.

Q: I rent an apartment that is part of a house. The owner of the house pays for curbside garbage collection and recycling but has never gotten me a yard-waste bin, even though there is a need for one in the summer and fall. Is the owner required to get a yard-waste bin for this apartment as of March 30?

Stav: Yard waste is prohibited from the garbage, and the owner can cut down on garbage disposal and garbage costs by subscribing to food and yard collection.

Q: The frustration I hear from several citizens is that rules for recycling/solid waste keep changing and our rates keep going up. Some of us are already down to a micro bin. Is it possible to keep the large yard-waste bin without incurring any additional charges in the future? This only gets set out and picked up 3-4 times a year.

Watson: Costs of solid-waste management, unfortunately, continue to rise. You're doing a great job — and saving money — by using a micro bin. To keep costs down, King County's vision for the future is that cities could only provide garbage collection every two weeks, instead of weekly.

Renton is already pioneering this method. Since food waste can go in with yard waste, and so many items can be recycled now, weekly garbage collection may just not be necessary anymore.

Under the city of Seattle's new system, you can now order a smaller yard-waste container to save money. You can do this on their Web site: www.seattle.gov/util

Q: Can the new nonfoam food boxes be put into yard- and food-waste collection?

Stav: If a paper food take-out box doesn't have any shine to it (what we call "coat") it probably means it doesn't have any plastic residue, so therefore can be put in your food cart to be made into compost.

If it does have a coat to it (picture the traditional Chinese takeout box), and it's clean, then it goes in the recycling cart.