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The City of Tacoma’s Solid Waste Management is currently gathering customer feedback regarding some proposed changes to the City’s recycling program. Solid Waste Management is proposing four options that would address operational challenges to the residential curbside recycling program that were caused by the disruption of the international recycling market.

Solid Waste Management is currently gathering community feedback on a range of options that would address the issues currently facing the program. The options, which Solid Waste Management proposed, include limited recycling, partial curbside recycling, maintaining the full curbside recycling, and maintaining the full curbside recycling with additional resources.

The limited recycling option, which includes stopping the curbside recycling program, would be a permanent monthly rate increase of 3%, or approximately $1.33 per customer. This option would cover the cost to landfill those same items that would regularly be recycled.  The three other options include additional surcharges to customers, which are intended to be temporary and will be reexamined as the recycling market stabilizes.

The new revenue generated by the proposed monthly recycling surcharges, which range from $2.40 to $4, will cover the actual cost the utility is incurring to market and ship recyclables to importers. The fourth option, would generate an additional $600,000 for expanded education about recycling and provide satellite recycling stations or glass boxes.

Please visit our website at tacomarecycles.org/changes to find out more.

If you are a Tacoma resident, we encourage you to take the survey and pass it along to other people who you think might be interested. If you have questions, please can contact, Preston Peck, Project Specialist, at ppeck@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 593-7707.

– City of Tacoma