HomeMy WebLinkAboutJefferson County Recycling Program Issue PaperJefferson County Recycling Program Issue Paper
Prepared by Jefferson County Public Works Solid Waste Division
July, 2024
Historical Background
Originally conceived more than 30 years ago as an employment program for individuals with intellectual
and developmental disabilities, the recycling program included the sorting of materials by the
employment program’s clients at the recycling facility adjacent to the transfer station on County Landfill
Road near Port Townsend.
Market trends led to the retirement of the sorting line and downsizing of the clients served in the
employment program. The employment program for individuals with intellectual and developmental
disabilities has been transferred out of the recycling contract and is now an independent program
supported by the tipping fee charged for garbage service at the County-operated solid waste facilities.
In 2010, an agreement was entered into by the recycling contractor, Skookum Contract Services, the City
of Port Townsend’s contract waste and recycling hauler, Waste Connections, and Jefferson County
Public Works wherein the materials accepted for recycling would have established markets with
verifiable environmental and worker protections. This policy predated the closure of the Chinese
market by a decade and set Jefferson County apart from other Washington state counties.
This material acceptance policy precluded the acceptance of plastics with a resin type other than what is
labeled on plastic products as #1 or #2 and also caused Jefferson County to retain a source-separated
program with recycling customers pre-sorting materials in different bins. Jefferson County appears to
be the last County in Washington state to operate a source separated curbside recycling program
whereas other counties have transitioned to roll cart systems that co-mingle materials. 1
Current Recycling Program
Unincorporated Jefferson County
The Jefferson County Public Works Solid Waste Division oversees contracted services provided by
Skookum Contract Services for the collection, processing, sale, and shipment of the materials accepted
in Jefferson County’s recycling program. Jefferson County residents are provided with fee-free drop off
sites in Quilcene, Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, Kala Point, and at the Transfer Station just outside of Port
Townsend. The Port Ludlow and Port Hadlock drop off areas are unstaffed and open to the public
around the clock. These locations were found to have the highest contamination rates in a recent audit
and by visual inspections and are a source of frequent complaints from residents because of illegal
dumping and misuse by contractors.
Unincorporated Jefferson County residents may opt to subscribe for curbside recycling as part of, or
independent from, curbside garbage service with service provided by Waste Connections. Rates for this
service are governed by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
Funding for the program comes from the fee charged for garbage service at the County-operated solid
waste facilities, from a grant provided by the Department of Ecology, and with revenue from the sale of
recyclable commodities. In the 12-month period starting July 1, 2023 (the beginning of the current grant
cycle) through June 30, 2024, program costs exceeded combined grant and commodity sale revenues by
$225,861.2
City of Port Townsend
The City of Port Townsend’s Public Works department contracts for curbside collection of recyclables
with Waste Connections which is the only municipal solid waste hauler licensed to operate in Jefferson
County by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Waste Connections delivers
recyclables from the Port Townsend route to the County recycling facility for processing and market
delivery by Skookum Contract Services. Curbside recycling service is mandatory in Port Townsend.
The two recycling programs are made consistent in terms of accepted material types through the
coordination of staff in the respective Public Works departments and with the input of the Solid Waste
Advisory Committee.
In the program’s current processing and marketing scheme:
• Tin, aluminum, and plastic materials are mixed and baled together for shipment to a material
recovery facility (MRF) in Pierce County
• Glass is shipped loose to a buyer in Tacoma
• Cardboard is baled and marketed to local paper mills
• Mixed paper is baled and marketed to several Washington state buyers
This stands in contrast to the curbside collection, processing, and marketing of recyclables in the other
counties of the state which typically use a single wheeled, closing lid cart to collect all recyclables except
glass (commonly referred to as “single stream” or “dual stream”), bale the mixed materials, and deliver
the bales to a single material recovery facility for processing.
Material Recovery Facility – Processing and Marketing Practices
In June of 2024, staff from the City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County Public Works departments
toured the MRF in Puyallup, WA where bales of mixed tin, aluminum and plastic (TAP) from Jefferson
County are delivered. Formerly known as Pioneer Recycling Services, this company was recently
purchased from a private equity firm by Waste Connections which operates its Pierce County fleet and
has corporate offices adjacent to the MRF.
At the facility tour, staff saw that TAP bales from Jefferson County are opened and mixed with the
materials from other counties that use single-stream or dual-stream cart service in a large mixing pit and
then sent by conveyor to multiple sorting stations that utilize staff, computer controlled focused air jets,
grinders, magnets, trommel screens, and robots to sort materials by type, including plastic containers by
resin type.
Waste Connections brokers recyclables domestically and internationally depending on pricing which is
highly variable. Waste Connections does not sell the low-grade plastics removed in the sorting process
and instead landfills these along with other residuals.
Findings and Recommendations
Because the Waste Connections MRF does not market low-grade plastics to off-shore markets, a dual
stream roll cart program could be offered to Jefferson County residents that would comply with the
County’s material acceptance policy.
Should Jefferson County choose to replace its current subsidized drop-box program in favor of a dual-
stream curbside cart program by service subscription, the achievable outcomes would be:
• Increased customer choice in level of service
• Customer awareness of the true cost of recycling (no subsidy from the tipping fee)
• Lower tipping fee for garbage service (fee lowered commensurate with the reduced operating
budget)
• Increased curbside recycling program participation rate (currently 18.5% in Jefferson County
compared to 50.2% in Clallam County which was 20% prior to the introduction of roll cart
service)3
• Lower program carbon footprint (1 truck replacing up to 1,000 vehicle trips to drop off areas)4
• Avoidance of “stockpiling” materials at the recycling facility due to market disruptions (MRF has
holding capacity)
• Reduced wait times at the transfer station with fewer customers in queue
• Reduced litter complaints about wind-blown materials from the open top three bin system
• Reduced staff time responding to complaints about unstaffed collection sites
• Reduced program costs for maintenance of unstaffed collection sites
• The application of grant funds to other solid waste education programs (current focus is on food
rescue and redirection to food banks)
Probable “cons” to such a change would include:
• Increased transportation distance for cardboard
• Lower commodity value
Staff recommends issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a dual-stream curbside cart system with a
service area of City of Port Townsend and all of unincorporated Jefferson County. This RFP would
require the proposers to identify:
• The cost of the service to subscribing customers in both Port Townsend and unincorporated
Jefferson County
• Service options including bin size and collection frequency
• The material types accepted
• A customer outreach plan
• The location of glass-only drop off areas throughout the county
Source:
1. 2023 survey of solid waste managers in WA state
2. Skookum Contract Services commodity sales reports, Department of Ecology grant reporting, Solid Waste Division budget
3. Data from the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office and Waste Connections route data
4. Waste Connections route data