Today, under their recycling program, the city has a 90
percent participation rate by households and recycles 48
percent of the total waste stream, according to Mount. Seattle
has 530,000 residents, and the average household
puts out 30 gallons of trash a week.
By opting for recycling, the city also realized a substantial
cost saving. Ray Hoffman, formerly program development
supervisor in Seattle’s Solid Waste Utility, said that
in 1989 dollars, an incineration plant that would have
processed 2,000 tons a day of trash would have cost the
city $200 million and had a useful life of about 20 years.
In contrast, recycling was cheaper because the city currently
only spends about $75 million annually to administer
its entire solid waste management program.
Furthermore, it saved $30.50 per ton on costs associated
with traditional garbage collection, explained Hoffman.
This cost fluctuates, however, depending on the market
for recyclable items, such as tin cans, glass, cardboard
and newspaper.