The King County Solid Waste Division (SWD) has developed a number of environmental programs designed to help guide SWD’s commitment to environmental quality while making SWD and the county more efficient and cost-effective. These programs address a broad range of issues, for example:

Climate Change and Solid Waste

Human activities – from cutting down forests to burning fossil fuels – are causing unprecedented rises in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. These emissions are resulting in increasingly severe changes to the climate system.

Product Stewardship

Product stewardship programs place more responsibility on manufacturers and retailers to design products that can be disassembled for recycling, are less toxic, and can be collected and managed in a way that conserves valuable resources.

Green Building Team

The Green Building Team provides support for and promotes the implementation of the King County Green Building Initiative. The team promotes the use of environmentally friendly building practices in all buildings that the county constructs, remodels and renovates.

WasteWise

The WasteWise program provides assistance to all King County agencies to help them prevent waste, increase recycling and purchase products made with recycled materials.