Seattle Ponders Ways To Reach 60 Percent Recycling

Date: January 9, 2003

Source: News Room

Fourteen years ago, the city of Seattle set an ambitious goal of recycling 60 percent of its waste by 2008. Now, the city is trying to determine what it would take to finish the job. The city's recycling rate now stands at about 40 percent, and city officials acknowledge that the original plan may have been too optimistic. But Seattle is still well ahead of the 30 percent national average, in part because of an enthusiastic population. Reaching 60 percent could mean sending another truck to pick up food scraps, which make up 20 percent of total waste, or offering free curbside service to businesses, which now mostly use optional private recycling services.

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