Waste360 Staff, Staff

May 16, 2016

1 Min Read
Seattle’s Recycling Exemptions are Making Residents Upset

In Seattle, there are 30 apartment buildings that don’t provide recycling dumpsters because they simply don’t have enough space. And now, some local residents are expressing their guilt and concern over these recycling exemptions, which limit them from recycling in their own home. 

Sally Hulsman, director of solid waste compliance for Seattle Public Utilities, is hearing these residents out and encouraging residents to call her if they live in a recycling-exempt building. She is currently working on a number of free and creative recycling options for these residents who would like to participate in recycling efforts.

KIRO 7 News has more on this story:

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash are not getting recycled in Seattle – because not everybody in the city is required to recycle.

Thirty apartment buildings in the city have exemptions – meaning they don’t provide recycling dumpsters on their property – because the city has agreed those properties don’t have enough space. "It makes me feel really bad every time I throw a bag in here. It just makes me feel really guilty,” said Valerie Turrentine, who lives in an apartment complex on Capitol Hill.

She said she is sick of throwing her recycling into the trash. When she asked her landlord, she learned about the exemption. She didn’t think it was real.

Read the full story here.

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