Spokane7
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July 1, 2010 in City
Curbside pickup of scraps, soiled paper to begin July 12
Jared Cereghino, left, and Austin Bohn, of the city of Spokane Solid Waste Department, dump yard waste Wednesday along their route near 33rd Avenue and Perry Street. Starting July 12, Spokane will allow food scraps in the curbside green bins.
(Full-size photo)
If it’s been bugging you that you can’t recycle that discarded pizza box from last night, worry no more.
Starting July 12, city of Spokane and Waste Management trash customers can toss that box – and whatever stale pizza is left inside it – in their yard waste bins.
Residents who don’t buy curbside yard service can take food waste to the Waste-to-Energy Plant or waste transfer stations.
Officials say yard waste prices won’t increase as a result of the change. That’s in part because while the volume of yard waste material is expected to increase slightly, the program likely will cause a slight decline in trash volume.
“Our view is there’s probably no discernable cost,” said Russ Menke, director of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System.
Last year, of material not recycled within the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, 72 percent of waste was burned at the Waste-to-Energy Plant, 16 percent was sent to a landfill and 12 percent was sent by truck to Royal City, Wash., for composting, Menke said.
Among the five largest cities in the state, Spokane will become the third to offer food waste collection at the curb. Seattle and Bellevue collect food waste for composting as part of their mandatory yard waste service. Vancouver and Tacoma, like Spokane, offer optional yard waste collection, but those cities don’t allow food waste to be mixed with yard debris.
Waste that can be added to yard waste bins as of July 12 includes:
•Cooked or raw food that’s not liquid.
•Paper coffee filters and tea bags.
•Eggshells.
•Pizza boxes.
•Food-soiled paper towels or napkins.
Treated wood, pet waste, plastics of any kind, paper cartons and dirt are among materials not accepted in yard waste bins.
Other cities that have started food waste programs have experienced a 6 to 8 percent increase in yard waste collection, said Ken Gimpel, municipal relations manager for Waste Management in Eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
Spokane sends its yard waste to Royal Organic Products, 120 miles from Spokane in Royal City. The business recently won permission to accept food waste.
Wayne Krafft, the Eastern Washington manager of the Department of Ecology’s Waste to Resource Program, said burning food waste in Spokane’s trash incinerator isn’t helpful to the plant’s electricity production since it’s mostly wet, and food waste that’s buried in landfills produces methane. That’s a much bigger concern in relation to global warming than carbon dioxide, which is created when material is composted, Krafft said.
Some city and county leaders have questioned the financial and environmental impacts of shipping yard waste so far away. Late last year, the solid waste system, which is led by the city, solicited bids for a 10-year composting contract. Menke said three companies responded. However, Menke said he decided to suspend the process until the future of the system is more certain.
In the next two years, contracts among the county and cities that form the system expire. Menke said the city decided that it would make more sense to pursue a shorter composting contract or a long-term deal once the makeup of a regional system is clearer.
MAC faces angry crowd 
lewis8457 on July 01 at 7:54 a.m.
In Portland I used to feed my family by recycling in Spokane I have to pay the city to recycle.
the only thing I can get money to recycle in Spokane is metal
mikewsu on July 01 at 10:02 a.m.
Are you hinting at that you think you should be paid for your food waste? ;) ha ha
Either way, you aren’t being paid to recycle. It’s just a deposit incentive program to promote recycling. You pay your nickel when you buy your full bottle. Get it back when return the empty.
rdunlap on July 01 at 10:09 a.m.
Lewis — That’s primarily because the points where your recycling has to end up for processing are a lot closer to Portland than they are to Spokane. After Spokane-area recycling dealers figure in the transportation costs, it lowers the price you’ll receive for your materials.
lewis8457 on July 01 at 6:23 p.m.
mikewsu what nickel there is no nickel bottles in Washington you have to go to Oregon to get the nickel back.
In Spokane you have to pay a extra charge to have the blue bins picked up if you want to recycle that is what i am talking about having to pay the city. Then they take it and sell it.
If they really cared about recycling they would give me the blue bin for free.
rdunlap thank you that does make a lot more sense.
rdunlap on July 02 at 8:39 a.m.
Good news, Lewis! You don’t pay an “extra charge” for the blue bin or having it picked up in the Spokane region. The cost is included in the basic monthly billing for your regular solid waste service, whether you use it or not.
If you need a bin, call 625-7878 to request one. (First one is free, replacements are $5.)
You can also bring your recyclable materials to any of the transfer stations and drop them off free of charge. Go to www.solidwaste.org for more info.
(Yes, I am affiliated with the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, and yes, we really do care about recycling! And reducing and reusing, too!)