The Washington Ecology Department says the recycling rate reached 49 percent in 2010 in the state, up from 45 percent in 2009.

About 4.3 million tons of the 8.9 million tons of municipal waste was recycled.

The department's Gretchen Newman says while recycling is up, the overall amount of waste disposal was down about 1 percent.

She says part of the reason may be a slow economy making people more thrifty and less wasteful.