City to begin delivery of larger recycling carts

With every-other-week recycling in full swing, the city will begin to deliver larger 96-gallon blue carts to those who requested them in June.

As it cut recycling pickup in half, from weekly to biweekly, the city offered residents concerned about cart capacity an up-sized option.

The city will deliver the new carts on the same day as regular recycling pickups over the first two weeks of June.

Residents should leave their smaller carts on the curbside after city crews collect the recycling. A private contractor hired by the city will swoop in and replace it with the new, larger cart. Customers who ordered a new cart but don’t see it delivered by 5 p.m. on recycling collection day should call 311 to report it.

Customers on the A schedule, which includes the South Hill, will have their carts delivered next week. Because of the Memorial Day holiday, the recycling pickup and cart delivery will be delayed by one day.

Those on the B schedule, which includes most of the North Side, will have their carts delivered the following week.

The city switched to the new recycling collection schedule in May.

Customers who have learned the hard way that the regular cart is insufficient for a two-week stretch can still request a new one, free of charge, from the city by calling 311 or contacting a 311 representative online.

The city made the change to every-other-week recycling as financial losses mounted. The recycling program ended 2020 at a net loss of $1.3 million for the year as, like many other cities, the city has struggled to find buyers for its recycled materials.

“Recycling is an important part of the City’s solid waste collection and disposal system that stresses ‘reduce, reuse and recycle.’ The change to every-other-week recycling collection will allow the City to maintain a robust recycling program, while managing rising costs,” said Marlene Feist, the city’s Public Works director.

Those unsure if they are on a week A or B schedule can enter their address in the city’s online tool at my.spokanecity.org/solidwaste/recycling/map/.