Shoreline Garbage, Recycling Rates About To Go Up

SHORELINE, WA — Shoreline residents are about to start paying for volatility in the international waste market.

Next week, the City Council will consider raising residential waste collection rates $1.35 per month ($2.10 per month for multifamily properties). That's because foreign nations that buy recyclable materials are getting stricter, and in some cases banning the importation of American waste.

The city's waste collector, Recology, last summer notified city officials that China was making changes to rules for accepting imported waste. Before January 2019, Chinese recycling mills accepted bales of paper and plastic with up to 10 percent contamination. That standard then dropped to 0.5 percent, until this month, when China stopped all imports.

Recology can still export recyclables to other Asian countries, but shipping costs are higher, and the recycling mills pay less than China, according to city staff.

The waste collection fee increase will generate about $600,000 for Recology. The company will use the money to reduce contamination at its processing facility, but also to education Shoreline residents on how to dispose of recyclables and garbage properly — that way Recology can export less contaminated waste.

"Recology is to undertake a robust outreach and education program, with specific deliverables through the end of 2019, to inform and educate all Shoreline customers of recyclable material list changes and recycling best practices. During that time, Recology will administer visual inspections of aggregate truck contents from City routes (i.e., a “pad inspection” where recycle material from a truck is emptied on a pad and an assessment of the contamination is made). These will occur once a month targeting different routes. Based on pad inspection results, Recology will conduct targeted outreach to customers on individual routes found to have contamination in excess of acceptance standards," a city memo on the Recology contract change reads.

City Council is scheduled to vote on the fee increase at the June 3 meeting.