If you’re curious about what you and your neighbors throw in the trash, here’s your chance to find out. Join the Pierce County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) on June 16 at 6:30 p.m. to hear the results of the 2010 Waste Characterization Audit. The meeting will be held at the Pierce County Central Maintenance Facility located at 4812 196th St. E. in Spanaway, WA 98387.

The Solid Waste Division initiated the audit as part of the 2008 Solid Waste Plan. The plan set a goal of reducing the amount of waste citizens throw away by 75 percent from 4.5 pounds per person per day to 1.09 pounds per person per day by 2032.

For the past 18 months, consultants sorted through residential and commercial garbage collected throughout the county over three seasons. The random samples generated data that will help develop new programs and insight into habit changes since the last waste audit fifteen years ago.

The SWAC is made up of fifteen members who advise Public Works and Utilities and the Pierce County Council on solid waste management issues. SWAC members are instrumental in setting waste reduction and recycling goals, developing new recycling and waste programs such as the popular Pierce County Responds program.

For more information, visit http://www.piercecountywa.org/swac or call Public Works and Utilities at (253) 798-2179.