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Recycle Right in Kitsap County



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Recycling programs vary by region, and it's important to know what's accepted in your area. In Kitsap County, we only collect items for recycling that can be correctly sorted at the Tacoma recycling facility. Items accepted for curbside recycling and at drop-off facilities in Kitsap County have the best chance to be purchased and recycled into something new. Check out our Recycle Right Guide for what belongs in your local recycling.

Recycling Changes

On June 14, 2021, we removed paper milk cartons and frozen food boxes from the list of recyclable materials collected in Kitsap County. These items are difficult to recycle due to plastic coatings, protective linings or embedded resins.



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Recycle Right

Empty, clean, dry and loose

Recycle only these items in your curbside bin and at county recycling facilities:

  • Plastic bottles, jugs, jars and dairy tubs - no lids

  • Cardboard - flat

  • Paper- mail, magazines and catalogs, newspaper, office paper, phone books, paperboard boxes, etc.

  • Metal cans - no loose lids

  • Glass bottles and jars - no lids

Garbage

​Other
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These items are not accepted for curbside recycling. Search the Waste Wizard for drop-off options:

  • Appliances

  • Batteries

  • Clothing and textiles

  • Concrete, asphalt, aggregate, masonry

  • Electronics​

  • Mattresses

  • Plastic bags and wrap

  • Plastic plant pots

  • Scrap metal

  • Shredded paper

  • Styrofoam

  • Tires

  • TVs, computers, monitors

  • Paint 

  • Wood waste

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't all plastics be recycled?

Only a few types of plastics can be recycled for curbside or facility recycling in Kitsap. “Plastic” is a general term for a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials. These materials have different ingredients and are made in different ways. Because of this, not all plastics can be recycled.

We only collect plastics we're confident will be responsibly recycled. The four shapes of plastic we accept can be sorted at the sorting facility, are consistently purchased by companies to use in their manufacturing, and can be recycled using today's technologies. Put other plastics in the trash.

What about Styrofoam? Learn about the challenges of recycling expanded polystyrene foam.

Ignore the symbol/number printed on some packaging. That “recycling symbol” on your plastic container is called a resin code. It identifies the type of plastic the container is made from—but it can't tell you if something is recyclable.

Recycle by shape. Shape determines how a container travels through the sorting facility. The plastic containers we collect are sturdy enough to hold their shape during sorting. Plastic containers that are easily crushed end up incorrectly sorted into paper bales.

Demand and technology are limited. For plastics recycling to work, companies must buy and use recycled materials to make new products. Many brands promote plastics recycling, but relatively few use recycled content or work alongside recyclers to make sure their packaging is recyclable. In Washington, several new laws require a minimum recycled content in items like beverage containers, reusable plastic bags, trash bags and plastic bottles in the coming years. Minimum content laws aim to boost local markets for recycled material.

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Where do Kitsap's recyclables go?

Recyclables collected in Kitsap County are sorted at Waste Management- JMK Fibers, a Materials Recovery Facility in Tacoma. Machines and workers sort the recyclables into similar materials, bale them together and sell the bales to manufacturers.

Domestic and international buyers bid on the bales on an open market. Buyers inspect each bale and pay a higher price for clean materials without contamination.

When recycling markets are good, you receive a recycling rebate on your recycling bill. If sellers cannot sell a bale of recycling, they may have to pay the processor to take the bale. Or they may re-sort the bale to remove contaminants. It is much easier to sell recyclables if the quality is good from the start. Quality begins in your home.


What do recyclables become?

Plastic bottles, jugs, jars, or dairy tubs are primarily sold to a sorting facility in Canada. This facility is a "secondary sorting facility," where plastics are sorted again to increase the quality of the materials so they're easier to sell to re-manufacturers around the world. Recycled plastics become a wide variety of plastic goods. However, when the price of oil is low, manufacturers are less likely to use recycled plastics and more likely to use virgin plastics.

Corrugated cardboard is turned into a variety of paper products. The majority of cardboard is recycled at paper mills in the US. If the cardboard is purchased by Port Townsend Paper Company in Port Townsend, WA, for example, it will become the raw materials used to construct new cardboard boxes or pulp used to make new paper.

Mixed paper like office paper, mail, magazines, and paperboard boxes has some local (WA state) markets and some goes to countries in Asia. 

Metal cans are 100% recyclable and can be recycled an unlimited number of times. Steel (tin) cans are often recycled at Nucor Steel in Seattle. They melt and manufacture steel scrap into a variety of steel products. Aluminum cans are often sent to aluminum smelters in the southeastern US. It takes only a few month for a aluminum can from your recycle bin to make its way back to the shelves as a new can.

Glass bottles and jars are crushed during the sorting process to minimize the abrasive impacts on the sorting machines. Crushed glass is often sold to manufacturers of composite materials, sandblasting medium, aquarium gravel, landscaping materials, and more. It is also used as an "alternative daily cover," a material placed on the surface of an active landfill cell to control pests, fires, odors, and blowing litter. Ardagh Group, a packaging manufacturer in Seattle, uses recycled glass to produce wine bottles.