Solid Waste Management Planning
The City of Seattle is required to develop a comprehensive solid waste management plan and update it every six years. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) prepares the plan, which provides a roadmap for how the City will manage and finance its solid waste services and facilities over the next 6 years, and projects system management needs over 20 years. The plan describes how Seattle handles, collects, processes, and disposes of Seattle's waste, progress toward solid waste goals, and waste prevention, recycling, and composting programs and policies.
On April 11, 2023, the City Council adopted Seattle’s latest comprehensive solid waste management plan, the 2022 Solid Waste Plan Update: Moving Upstream to Zero Waste (2022 Plan Update). The Washington State Department of Ecology approved the 2022 Plan Update on June 7, 2023.
Seattle’s Solid Waste System Overview
As detailed in the 2022 Plan Update, SPU provides residential garbage, recycling, and food and yard waste services in partnership with two contracted haulers, Waste Management Inc. and Recology. These services cover all single-family and multi-family properties in Seattle. Businesses receive garbage service from the City but may choose either City‑provided or private companies for recycling and food and yard waste collection. SPU also operates two transfer stations, two household hazardous waste collection facilities, a fleet of trucks and heavy equipment, and several closed landfills.
Recycling and food and yard waste are sent to processing facilities, while garbage collected by contracted haulers is delivered to SPU’s transfer stations. There it is compacted into sealed containers and transported by rail to a privately owned landfill in eastern Oregon for final disposal. Transfer stations also accept garbage, recyclables, and organic materials from businesses and residents for sorting, consolidation, and shipment to appropriate facilities. In addition, SPU hosts Beyond the Cart collection events and offers Special Item Pickup service to collect items that can’t go in home recycle carts or dumpsters. SPU monitors and manages the performance of its contractors using service level goals, incentives, and fees established in the solid waste contracts.
More information on these services, facilities and programs is available in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 of the 2022 Plan Update.
A sizable portion of the City's waste consists of construction and demolition (C&D) debris, which includes materials from C&D activities such as wood, asphalt shingles, concrete, metal, rocks, brick, and drywall. C&D materials are hauled by the City’s contracted waste hauler to private recycling facilities for sorting or to private transfer stations for disposal. For more information, visit Construction and Demolition Waste Management and Chapter 8 of the 2022 Plan Update.
Related Resources
Annual Solid Waste Reports: These reports detail results for SPU’s key solid waste metrics, and include trends in municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition debris generation, disposal, and recycling.
Solid Waste Key Metrics: In 2024, SPU’s Solid Waste Line of Business established new metrics and targets to improve alignment between Seattle’s zero waste vision and the city’s waste reduction and climate goals. SPU reports each year on the city’s progress toward meeting these targets through the Annual Solid Waste Report.
Waste Prevention: Preventing waste before it’s created is key to reducing what Seattle sends to disposal and moving us closer to a zero‑waste future. SPU’s waste‑prevention work centers on rescuing edible food, encouraging informed purchasing, phasing out single‑use items, funding community waste‑reduction efforts, and promoting natural yard care that avoids toxic chemicals.
Collections & Disposal: Resource to view our garbage, recycling, and food & yard waste (compost) services, find the nearest transfer station (dump/landfill), and find your collection day.