Tom Thiersch

Jefferson County is about to “privatize” recycling throughout the county. The county’s Solid Waste Division’s proposed plan is to eliminate the bins at three of the five locations for recycling that county residents currently rely on to safely and properly dispose of cardboard, paper, cans and plastic jugs and glass. The Port Hadlock, Kala Point, and Port Ludlow facilities will be closed, leaving only the Quilcene location and the Jacob Miller Road transfer station.

According to, and as recommended by the Solid Waste Division, the only way for county residents to recycle (other than at the two remaining locations) will be for them to subscribe to “curbside” service with Waste Connections and pay them for additional recycling service. Curbside garbage and recycling service, if you can get it, will cost you at least $400 per year; the rates will be set and regulated by the state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC).

Under the proposed scheme, all recycling at the Jacob Miller Road transfer station will be moved “behind the scale”, so you will pay the same as for garbage; $20 minimum for up to 220 pounds and per-ton for larger loads. The lines at the scales are already long, and this move will greatly increase wait times.

People wanting to recycle on their own will have to drive much farther to one of the two remaining locations. At the transfer station, they will have to spend more time idling in line, greatly increasing vehicle emissions (in violation of our Climate Action Plan). The proposed scheme also makes a joke of the Solid Waste Plan’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle priorities.

The Solid Waste Division has reported that the current recycling program requires a $13.85 per ton subsidy. Well, if that’s all it takes to break even and keep the current drop-off locations operating as today, then why not just add $14 to the per-ton tipping fee and leave everything else in place?

The typical household disposes of less than 2 tons of solid waste per year, so the added cost to the tipping fee would be less than $30 per year. That’s a lot more attractive alternative than the $400 alternative that’s being proposed. By sharing the cost of properly recycling those items that can be recycled and keeping everything else as-is, many thousands of users will not be inconvenienced, and Climate Action and Solid Waste plans will be followed. Problem solved.

There are several good reasons why only a small fraction of county residents have signed up for the currently available commercial curbside service (there aren’t a lot of “curbs” outside the city): (a) they can’t afford the cost, (b) the garbage trucks can’t navigate their roads, and/or (c) the nearest “curb” is hundreds of feet from their house. Wheeling a heavy garbage bin plus recycling bin(s) that far over often steep gravel driveways is physically challenging for many residents and is certainly not an attractive proposition in bad weather (although the hauler can do that for you if you can afford yet another added fee.)

If the county forces this scheme onto county residents, it’s easy to forecast what will happen; much, if not most, of what is currently recycled will just be mixed in with garbage. It’s unreasonable to expect people to more than double their current number of $20 trips to the transfer station. While many people have pickup trucks, those who have passenger cars can’t transport anywhere near the 220 pound minimum, so their effective cost per ton for service will be much higher than would otherwise be the case. At today’s rates, instead of paying the bulk rate “tipping fee” of $187 per ton, the more typical small load of 100 pounds will cost the equivalent of $363 per ton.

The next step toward finalizing Solid Waste’s privatization scheme will be a public hearing at the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC), scheduled for October 13. In a document made available for the hearing only a few days ago, Solid Waste has now come up with two new schemes, including either a mysterious “per ton hidden fee” or increasing the minimum fee from $20 to $28 and increasing the low-income fee from $10 to $18. This modified proposal was not presented to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee at their special meeting on October 1 when such a proposal should have been thoroughly vetted, and not to the public and not to the BoCC. It is unreasonable to ask the BoCC to approve of any such last-minute changes without proper preparation and analysis.

If you want to keep recycling services unchanged in our county, show up in person or Zoom in online and let the BoCC know that what Solid Waste is asking them to approve is simply unacceptable.

Tom Thiersch is a Jefferson County resident.