Recycling And Taking Out The Trash Solid Waste

For decades, Spokane dumped its household and industrial waste into landfills, which eventually leaked and threatened ground water.

Some even became Superfund sites.

During Expo ‘74, trash problems took center stage at the U.S. Pavilion. The fair’s metal goat, wildly popular with children and still a park fixture, sucked in trash with the help of a vacuum tube.

In the 1980s, the city and county decided to build a modern trash incinerator.

Spokane obtained $60 million in state funds, part of a $134 million package that also closed the old landfills and launched a recycling program.

The incinerator project divided the community, with many environmentalists opposing it. The West Plains plant started burning garbage in September 1991 and has generally run well, burning 298,000 tons of trash a year. But the 96,000 tons of ash is considered hazardous and must be disposed of in a special landfill.

Meanwhile, Spokane’s recycling rates remain strong, with about 40 percent of all trash recycled through curbside collection and other programs.

This sidebar appeared with the story: BY THE NUMBERS Then & Now Then: Spokane’s recycling rate less than 19 percent Now: Spokane’s recycling rate at least 40 percent