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In the News
Where do your recyclables go?
Visit the Cascade Recycling Center to find out
by Bronwyn Wilson
Senior Staff Writer
Once the recyclables are sorted, they are compressed into bales and shipped out on trucks to specific buyers. The large bales of recycled paper shown here will go to China.
The Cascade Recycling Center bustles with a purposeful atmosphere, reminiscent of Santa’s Workshop the day before Christmas. Gears whirl amid a labyrinth of moving conveyor belts. Dump trucks and loaders drive back and forth in a clean, odor-free environment. State-of-the-art machines sort and separate a myriad of colorful and used paper, plastics, cans and bottles. Cardboard takes off in one direction as lighter paper free-falls into a massive bin. Although they aren’t Santa’s elves, the employees work with an intense objective at individual tasks. “Sorters” stand by, ready to pull contaminants from the recycled items and to single out certain objects, like plastic milk jugs, which they toss into a separate receptacle.
At a cost of $23 million, the 82,000-square-foot center operates continuously Monday through Saturday morning. It rests only on weekends. “We sort 600 to 700 tons of curbside recycle each day,” explained Don Theuret, maintenance manager. “We don’t shut down until 5 a.m. on Saturday morning.”
Located on Northeast 190th and just up the hill from Woodinville-Snohomish Road, the Cascade Recycling Center employs the most advanced sorting technologies from the U.S. and Europe. It also holds the distinction of being the largest of its kind on the West Coast. “We’re the biggest facility west of the Mississippi,” said Todd Vaught, district manager. As a division of Waste Management, the center serves households as far south as Federal Way, up to Skagit County, and parts of central Washington. It has seen a rise in the volume of materials recycled since opening in September 2003.
“We have found that the participation rate in our smaller communities is as high as a 20 percent increase of what we used to do. Overall, we’re up by 10 to 12 percent,” said Vaught, noting the percentage jumps even higher during the holidays when people recycle more packaging materials.
He continued, “We currently process over 22,000 tons of residential and commercial recycling and construction debris per month. Originally, it was expected that we could handle 15-16,000 tons. Now, we’re modifying the facility to become more efficient in handling the additional volume above and beyond what we anticipated.”
And where do the recyclables go after they leave the recycling center?
“Most of the fiber (paper, cardboard, newspaper) goes overseas to China or to a mill in Vancouver,” said Vaught. “Aluminum goes to Anheuser Busch and the glass goes to Gallo to produce wine bottles.” Other recyclable materials enjoy a renewed life as plastics, plastic wrap, carpet, siding, egg cartons and tissue.
Recycling has other benefits in addition to saving resources. “Recycling saves landfill space and allows us to reuse products,” Vaught said. “Basically, it prevents us from filling up our land with recyclables and it saves energy. It takes a lot to run landfills, transfer stations and incinerators.”
Vaught said the center takes in 3-4 percent garbage with some unusual or unwanted items appearing on occasion. “We’ve found dead animals, medical waste, handmade spears and a 100-dollar bill from the 1800s,” said Vaught. “Also, we get numerous calls from people thinking they’ve dropped their wedding album or rings in their recycle [bin].”
Education plays a role at the center and tours are offered upon request. Rita Smith, community education director, talks to tour groups about the importance of recycling at home. “We show a 10- to 15-minute video and talk about how garbage is handled, the public’s role and where things go,” she said. “Then we go out to the observation deck for 10 minutes.”
Smith doesn’t just “talk” about recycling. When she shops, she looks for recycled products. “I, for one, won’t buy greeting cards unless they’re on recycled paper,” she said, adding, “It sends a message to the retailer and stimulates the cycle.” She offers suggestions that will help save resources. “Take a reusable bag to the grocery store and buy more durable materials with less packaging. But the ultimate way to save resources is to not throw the resources out.”
When Smith and Vaught were asked if there were any items they would like people to “not” put in their blue 96-gallon cart, both had ready answers. “Shredded paper,” Vaught replied. “It’s a nightmare for us. It gets into our glass and sticks to it.”
Smith added, “Shredded paper fools our system as the machines sort by size and screen out larger pieces. A lot of the shredded paper ends up with the bottles and cans and small paper has a tendency to go in with the glass. Our solution is to ask people to put it in clear plastic bags so we can pull it off at the same time we pull off garbage.” She also said that any other plastic bags go into the garbage.
To schedule a tour at the center, go to www.wmnorthwest.com/cascaderecycling and fill out a request form. All tours are by previous arrangement. “Anybody can arrange to come,” said Smith.
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For more information about Waste Management's Cascade Recycling Center, contact the CRC at 425 485-8145 or e-mail cascaderecyclinginfo@wmnorthwest.com.
To schedule a tour - Click Here.
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