King County has set an ambitious course to achieve Zero Waste of Resources (ZWR) by the year 2030. This means that discarded materials that have value will not be managed as waste, but rather as resources that can be reused or recycled. Much of what we throw away still has value.

Over half of what we throw away is recyclable:

• Aluminum and Tin Cans
• Electronics
• Food Scraps and Compostable Paper
• Glass
• Mercury-Containing Products
• Metals and Appliances
• Plastics
• Recyclable Paper
• Textiles
• Wood
• Yard Waste
• Non-Recyclable materials

What happens to my recyclables?

Materials collected for recycling in King County become new products, many of them manufactured locally. This 10-minute video shows how the recycling loop works: from collection to remanufacture to new product.