Washington trash pickup is run by cities, counties and private haulers, not by the state, and your pickup day comes from your city’s or hauler’s own lookup. Among the largest cities, Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma collect curbside themselves. Washington has a PaintCare paint drop-off program and an electronics recycling law, but no statewide bottle deposit or mattress program.
Find your city
- Seattle — SPU with contracted haulers. Garbage and food-and-yard weekly for single-family homes; recycling every other week.
- King County, unincorporated — the county does not collect curbside carts. Use the hauler finder.
Other large cities and their official collection pages:
- Spokane: City of Spokane Solid Waste Collection Department. Weekly garbage collection is required for every occupied home in city limits, and recycling is picked up every other week on the same day as garbage. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
- Tacoma: City of Tacoma Solid Waste Management, Environmental Services Department. Garbage and recycling are collected every other week, alternating with food and yard waste. Official page ↗ Look up your collection day ↗
Missing your city? Suggest a City.
Who collects in Washington
- Seattle Public Utilities — municipal department
- King County Solid Waste Division — transfer stations and the hauler finder, not curbside collection
- Waste Connections, Republic Services, WM, Recology — brands that hold contracts in parts of the state. The finder or city page names the assignment.
- From January 1, 2028, carts under 101 gallons that haulers hand out must be gray or black for garbage, blue for recycling and green or brown for organics; working carts bought before August 2025 and handed out before 2028 can stay. Source ↗
- Residential garbage and recycling collection requires a permit from the Utilities and Transportation Commission or a contract with a city or county. Source ↗
- The Utilities and Transportation Commission’s county maps show which garbage companies are allowed to collect in each county, for reference only. Source ↗
State-level rules
- Container deposit: No statewide container deposit law. Washington has no deposit program; Ecology is studying a possible recycling refund program and says no decision has been made on whether to implement one. Source ↗
- Paint: Washington is on the PaintCare roster. PaintCare Washington began in April 2021 and lists 289 year-round drop-off sites; drop-off is free and funded by a fee on new paint. See paint. Source ↗
- Mattresses: No statewide mattress take-back program. The Mattress Recycling Council’s Bye Bye Mattress program operates statewide only in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. See mattresses. Source ↗
- Electronics: A 2006 law, Chapter 70A.500 RCW, makes manufacturers pay for E-Cycle Washington, so collection sites take TVs, computers, monitors and laptops from households at no cost; Ecology’s E-Cycle pages do not describe a landfill ban. Source ↗
- E-Cycle Washington recycles TVs, computers, laptops, monitors, tablets, e-readers and portable DVD players for free; keyboards, mice and printers are not covered. Source ↗
- The Recycling Reform Act, Chapter 70A.208 RCW, passed in 2025, makes producers fund residential packaging and paper recycling; Ecology will publish statewide collection lists by 2027, and statewide, consistent curbside service begins in 2030. Source ↗
- Ecology asks residents to keep recyclables empty, clean, dry and loose in the bin, because bagged recyclables are pulled from sorting lines and sent to the landfill. Source ↗
- Ecology’s Washington Recycles hotline, 1-800-RECYCLE or 1-800-732-9253, and its online database at 1800recycle.wa.gov show where to recycle items in your community. Source ↗
State agency
- State agency: Washington State Department of Ecology, Solid Waste Management Program. Ecology writes minimum solid waste handling standards and supports the counties and local health departments that write local solid waste rules and plans and oversee facilities, and its recycling pages point residents to the 1-800-RECYCLE locator. Official website ↗
- Find your local program: Ecology 1-800-RECYCLE locator ↗
- Contact: 1-800-RECYCLE (1-800-732-9253)
Flag of Washington. Public-domain artwork. Artwork: WA Secretary of State. Source. Resized to 480 pixels wide.
Materials with their own rules
Paint · Lithium-ion batteries · Household hazardous waste · Mattresses · Pizza boxes · Christmas trees
Neighboring states
Sources
Official pages used: ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · seattle.gov · seattle.gov · my.spokanecity.org · my.spokanecity.org · tacoma.gov · tacoma.gov · ecology.wa.gov · paintcare.org · mattressrecyclingcouncil.org · ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · ecology.wa.gov · utc.wa.gov · utc.wa.gov.
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