WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Are you recycling?

The Department of Ecology announced Tuesday that Washingtonians recycled more in 2012 than we threw away for the second year in a row. In 2011 we recycled 50.7 percent of our solid waste and, while last year’s figure dropped a bit (50.1%), it’s still past the 50 percent mark!

recycleIn 1989, the legislature passed the “Waste Not Washington Act,” which established waste reduction and source-separated recycling as the fundamental strategies for managing solid waste. It set a goal of recycling 50 percent of Washington state’s waste by 1995.

So maybe it took us a little longer to get there but we did and, if we work together, we may very well never go back.

This bit from Ecology’s press release helps illustrate what we achieved in 2012:

Recycling in Washington continues to provide important environmental benefits. In 2012, recycling materials instead of sending them to landfills helped us avoid emitting 2.6 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Also, recycling saved enough energy to power 1.1 million homes for a year (nearly half the households in Washington). 

Washington residents recycled over 4.4 million tons of material in 2012, equal to 3.5 pounds recycled per person per day. Glass, gypsum, and organic materials, including food and yard debris, showed the biggest increases in recycling. Metals and newspaper had the biggest declines.

If you’ve been separating your trash, thank you for doing your part; if not, it’s easy to start today! Ecology maintains an excellent consumer website with recycling resources and information.  It also staffs a toll-free hotline (1-800-RECYCLE) to provide people with information about where to recycle particular items or where the closest recycling facility is located.