Residents Sue Seattle to Block City Haulers From Snooping Into Trash

Reuters

Seattle is violating constitutional guarantees of privacy and due process in allowing garbage collectors to inspect refuse bins to gauge a home's compliance with the city's strict trash-sorting rules, residents said in a lawsuit this week.

The Washington state metropolis last year became the second major U.S. city after San Francisco to pass a law prohibiting most food or food scraps from being disposed of in residential and commercial garbage.

"This food waste ban uses trash collectors to pry through people's garbage without a warrant, as Washington courts have long required for garbage inspections by police," said Ethan Blevins, and attorney with the non-profit Pacific Legal Foundation, which filed the suit on behalf of Seattle residents.

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