Seattle Considering Expanding Commercial Recycling

Seattle is considering legislation to require business to recycle glass, plastic, tin and aluminum.

Council member Jean Godden introduced the legislation that if passed would take effect July 2014, according to her news release. The city would conduct six months of educational outreach to businesses before the law would take effect. After one and a half years the law would be enforced as civil infractions.

Gooden also wants to streamline the process for business owners to convert to comprehensive recycling, allocating $150,000 for business engagement.

"This is clearly the next step in Seattle's recycling effort," said Gooden, chairman of the Libraries, Utilities, and Center Committee. “Homeowners have been recycling bottles and cans since 2005, and it's time we re-energize the effort to preserve our dwindling natural resources."

Seattle businesses throw away more than 8,000 tons of recyclable bottles and cans in the landfill every year. Businesses currently must recycle only paper and cardboard. By 2019, this ban will reduce recyclables that go to the landfill by 6,000 tons.