Solid Waste and Recycling

Thurston County Drop Box Rates

Payment Methods

Thurston County drop boxes in Rainier, Rochester and Summit Lake accept cash, checks, debit cards and credit cards.  All transactions are rounded to the nearest dollar.

All garbage brought to the drop boxes is processed at the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center on Hogum Bay Road. Once processed, the garbage is trucked to Centralia and boards a train to Klickitat County in Eastern Washington. The garbage is then buried at the Roosevelt Regional Landfill, owned by Allied Waste.

Learn about drop box locations and hours of operation

Drop Box Rates for 2010

(Please note: Loads with several waste types will be charged based on which waste type constitutes the majority of the load.)

Garbage
   
$17.00 per cubic yard. Customers are charged for a minimum of 1 cubic yard. To imagine 1 cubic yard, think of a box that is 3 feet wide by 3 feet high by 3 feet deep.

This rate also applies to yard and garden trimmings, non-refrigerated appliances, furniture and vehicle tires (There is a 5-tire limit per customer per day.)
Yard and garden trimmings
   
Yard debris is treated as regular household garbage at the drop box sites. See rates above.
   
Construction, demolition debris, sheetrock
   
$29.00 per cubic yard. Customers are charged for a minimum of 1 cubic yard.
   
Roofing and specially handled wastes
   
$44.00 per cubic yard. Customers are charged for a minimum of 1 cubic yard.
   

Items Not Accepted at Drop Boxes

The following items are not accepted at garbage drop box sites. Please take these items to the Waste and Recovery Center on Hogum Bay Road instead.

  • Refrigerated appliances
  • TVs/computer monitors
  • Asbestos

Computers, laptops, monitors and TVs are accepted free at the Goodwill donation station at the Waste and Recovery Center under Washington's E-Cycle program. Several other locations accept these items as well. Click here for information.

Note: The E-Cycle program is available to residents, nonprofits, small businesses, schools and local governments only.

For Loose Refuse: How To Measure A Cubic Yard

All loose loads of refuse (not in bags or cans) brought to a drop box are measured by an attendant and charged by the cubic yard.

How to measure your load:

Measure (in feet) the width, the depth and the length of your load. Multiply those three numbers and divide by 27 to find your cubic yardage.

For example, your load is 4' wide, 2' deep and 8' long. Multiply 4 x 2 x 8. The total is 64. Divide 64 by 27. Your cubic yard total is approximately 2.5.

 

Please Cover Your Load!
Loose loads that are not covered will be charged a 50 percent  litter surcharge.

 

Questions:  Call 867-2491 or e-mail wwm-webmaster@co.thurston.wa.us. 
Last updated: 01/01/2010