Thurston County Blue Bin Site Closures
  

Thurston County Solid Waste regretfully announces that it will be closing five of the nine Blue Box recycling locations January 1, 2009 due to ongoing illegal dumping problems and budget reductions.

Despite signage and continual reminders in our newsletters, the website and newspaper articles, the illegal dumping has continued. We receive several calls per week about mattresses, electronics, etc being left at the sites. The Mottman Drive location recently had a truck canopy left for us to handle. Dealing with this problem requires considerable staff time and disposal fees.

Contamination of the recyclables in the bins has been an equally large problem. Some residents have decided they can save money by placing their trash in the recycling bins. This greatly reduces the value of the recyclables and we are often charged disposal fees when the materials have to be dumped as trash. The slide show above features photos of litter and contamination left at Blue Box sites.

Budgetary Issues

Another issue is budgetary. Solid Waste is not part of the county’s general fund budget, but operates on tip fees from trash taken to county-owned disposal facilities. It’s a "Catch 22": As trash disposal goes down due to diversion programs and diligent efforts by the community, we have less money for these programs. All counties that are funded by tip fees are going through the same problem, especially as the economy slows.

We understand that this unfortunate change will impact many residents in the county that have been making the effort to recycle. We encourage residents and businesses to use the staffed blue bins that are still available to them throughout the county.  All of the these staffed locations are within 10 miles of the blue bins that will be closed. Sites that will remain open are:
 

• 2418 Hogum Bay Rd N.E. in Lacey (Waste and Recovery Center) - open 7 days a week

• 16500 Sargent Rd. SW in Rochester - open Tues, Sat and Sun.

• 13010 Rainier Acres Rd. SE - open Fri and Sat.

• 12133 Summit Lake Dr. NW in Olympia - open Sun.
   

All residents in Thurston County now have curbside recycling available to them. It is automatically provided to Olympia and LeMay trash customers. Even those residents (outside of Olympia) that don’t want trash service can sign up for recycle only service for a minimal monthly fee with LeMay. Multifamily residence owners/operators (outside of Olympia) began paying for recycling on a per residence basis in September 2007. Most have signed up for and are successfully using the program.
 

Recycling for Businesses

While blue bins were never intended for businesses, we do know they were very heavy users of the program. LeMay now offers a very cost effective, bundled recycling package for businesses, called Certified Green. The program is customized for each business and provides collection for all recyclables, including food waste.

LeMay offers this program countywide, including within the City of Olympia. If you would like to arrange for residential recycling or LeMay’s commercial recycling program, the hauler numbers are as follows:
Pacific Disposal, Butler Cove and Joes Refuse at (360) 923-0111, Joe’s Refuse at (360) 736-4769 and City of Olympia (residential only) at (360) 753-8368.

Thurston County wants to thank the local businesses that have been hosting the Blue Box sites for years, as well as the residents that have been properly using them. We know the decision will be unpopular but, again, improper use and economic issues have made it necessary. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call 754-2896 or e-mail thomaste@co.thurston.wa.us.

Questions? Call 867-2491 or e-mail wwm-webmaster@co.thurston.wa.us.

Last updated: 10/13/2009