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Indicator: Solid Waste Disposal Rates

Data and Data Discussion provided by King County DNRP

Pounds of Solid Waste Collected per Single Family Household per Week by Collection Area, King County

Percent of solid waste recycled for single family households, King County

Table 1: Overall Seattle MSW Tons

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Upstream Indicators
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Downstream Indicators

There are currently no published Downstream Indicators.

Related Goals

The amount of solid waste being produced is directly related to rate of resources consumption. Decreasing the disposal of solid waste would help to limit the amount of resources used.

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Sustainability Snapshot:

Sustainable communities minimize the amount of waste they generate. They use materials efficiently in the products manufactured locally and buy products that can be reused, repaired, and recycled. Solid waste disposal rates are a telling indicator of resource consumption levels. Typically, when residents are buying more consumer products, there are increased levels of garbage being sent to the landfill. Recycling and disposal targets for King County were met in 2007, indicating a generally favorable trend in reducing solid waste generation and improving recycling rates.

Sustainability Trend:

Solid waste disposal has dropped off significantly since 2003. In 2007, single-family households in King County (excluding Seattle) recycled 54 percent of their solid waste and disposed less solid waste than the target rate of 27 pounds per household per week. Seattle set a new city record for recycling rates in 2006, with 47.5 percent of the city's residential, commercial and self-haul waste heading to recycling bins instead of the landfills.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Pounds of Solid Waste Disposed per Week by King County Single-Family Households

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

Our ability to reuse or recycle the wastes we generate reduces demand for new resources. Decreasing waste generation – through conservation or recycling – also reduces the waste we send to landfills. Single-family households in King County recycle 54 percent of their solid waste, and solid waste disposal dropped from 31 pounds to 28 pounds per week from 2003-2006.

King County Rates

King County's 2001 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan includes targets for single family household recycling (54% in 2007) and disposal levels for single family households (27 lbs. per household per week in 2007). These targets were met in 2007, indicating a generally favorable trend in reducing solid waste generation and improving recycling rates. Information from 2006 shows that the amount of waste disposed per employee (commercial waste disposal) was 25.6 pounds per week, higher than the target of 23.5 pounds per week stated in the county's 2001 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan.

Seattle Rates

Seattle recycles 44 percent of its trash, compared with the national average of around 30 percent. In 2007, Seattle’s total recycling increased from 47.6% to 48.4%, an increase of 0.8.

For single family households, about 87% of the total curbside materials available are currently recycled. Individual material recovery rates vary, with high of 97% for newspaper. We are currently recovering about 40% of the food waste from the residential single family sector. 98% of the yard waste is diverted from the landfill to either centralized or backyard composting, representing about 60,000 tons of material. Compliance in this sector with the ban prohibiting the disposal of recyclables is good with a very low rejection rate.

In 2007, recycling in the multi-family sector increased from 26.3% to 27.6%, an increase of 1.2%. This represents a significant increase especially considering this sector’s low base recycling rate.

In 2007, recycling in the commercial sector increased from 51.7% to 52.8%, an increase of 1.1%. The fourth straight year of significant growth, commercial recycling is up more than fifteen percent over the four years since 2003.

Data Source and Limitations

The King County data was collected from King County AIMs High Annual Indicators and Measures.  The original source is King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Solid Waste Division. 

Data on solid waste disposal are countywide except for: a) the cities of Seattle and Milton, which are not in the King County solid waste system; and b) Vashon Island, Snoqualmie Pass and the Skykomish area, which are not included in King County Code recycling service level requirements.

Data on Seattle's recycling and disposal rates comes from the Seattle Public Utilities.

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Additional Resources

  • City of Seattle Recycling Rate - 2007 Update
    This Seattle Public Utilities report summarizes 2007 recycling progress in Seattle’s two major waste streams: Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Construction and Demolition Debris (C&D). The report also describes the new actions or special focus within existing programs, Seattle Public Utilities is taking to meet the 60% goal for recycling that are different from the base programs in place prior to 2008.