Solid Waste Group
The City created a Solid Waste Group in the Public Works Department in May 2022 to address the recognized need for more focused attention on solid waste management. The Solid Waste Group is dedicated to upholding Bellingham’s natural beauty by addressing environmental safety and health concerns, water quality hazards, right-of-way obstructions, code compliance issues, and more. We achieve this through waste prevention, waste disposal, and resource recovery. We believe in the promotion of solid waste management best practices through education and development of partnerships with the public.
Waste Prevention
The Solid Waste Group implements and coordinates programs to reduce the amount of solid waste generated in Bellingham, including:
Residential recycling and garbage services in Bellingham are provided by Sanitary Service Company (SSC) under a contract to the City. Please contact SSC directly with questions about your garbage or recycling service.
Changes to Residential Recycling and Waste Collection Services
The Solid Waste Group has been coordinating with SSC on proposed changes to Bellingham’s residential recycling and waste collection services, including switching to single-stream recycling and adding organics collection as a minimum service level for all single-family residential SSC customers. These changes would improve collection efficiency and customer convenience while reducing litter and climate emissions. Learn more about the proposed changes.
WasteWise Tool
Learn how to properly recycle and dispose of waste items with Whatcom County’s WasteWise tool.
The Solid Waste Group partners with Sustainable Connections to provide education about how to reduce single-use plastic waste. Learn about local and state measures aimed at reducing single-use plastics in Bellingham.
We provide educational materials and programs about litter and illegal dumping:
- Moving Out? Pack it Out! We work with neighborhood associations and Western Washington University to educate the community about the importance of not leaving furniture outside when moving. Learn how to properly donate, sell, recycle and dispose of these items.
- Purple Bag Program. This is a program for community members interested in establishing litter crews.
- Code Compliance. We work with community members to address complaints and concerns that involve municipal codes regarding litter and illegal dumping.
Waste Disposal
The Solid Waste Group removes waste from property owned and managed by the City, such as City rights-of-way (ROW), Parks property, and City habitat restoration sites. Waste issues on public property can be reported using SeeClickFix. This work allows us to protect our greenways and waterways from contamination, benefitting human and environmental health.
Garbage Collection
Residential recycling and garbage services in Bellingham are provided by Sanitary Service Company (SSC) under a contract to the City. Please contact SSC directly with questions about your garbage or recycling service.
View Bellingham Municipal Code Ch. 9.12 – Garbage Collection to learn more about garbage collection requirements in Bellingham.
Learn how to properly recycle and dispose of waste items with Whatcom County’s WasteWise tool.
Hazardous Waste
SSC does not accept hazardous, toxic, radioactive or dangerous wastes, dead animals or hot ashes. Examples of some types of common household hazardous waste include:
- paints
- fluorescent lights
- old gasoline
- oil
- solvents
- antifreeze
- asbestos (siding, shingles, floor adhesive, etc.)
- pesticides/herbicides/other liquid chemicals.
To dispose of these types of wastes, please visit the Disposal of Toxics Program website or call (360) 380-4640. The Disposal of Toxics program accepts a variety of household hazardous waste from Whatcom County residents. Chemical wastes from Whatcom County businesses are also accepted with prior approval.
Please visit our Pollution Prevention for Businesses webpage if you are a business looking for information about reducing pollution and managing waste.
Sharps Disposal
Visit the Whatcom County Health Department website to learn how to properly dispose of needles and sharps.
The Purple Bag Program is intended to serve community members interested in organizing cleanup crews and events.
The City will provide resources to community members interested in establishing litter crews to help keep our City sidewalks and streets free of litter. Once a litter crew has been established, the City will coordinate regular municipal waste collection services. Please contact AskPW@cob.org if you would like to learn more about this program.
The Solid Waste Group cleans up unauthorized homeless encampments that have been abandoned on public property. Cleanup efforts are intended to help maintain public health and safety. The City offers a number of direct services for people experiencing homelessness, including garbage dumpsters, porta-potties, access to water and showers, and free vouchers for wastewater dumps for people living in recreational vehicles.
Learn more about encampment clean-ups and how to report unauthorized encampments.
The City’s subsidy of a seasonal woody debris (“Clean Green”) transfer station has ended. However, there are options for year-round pick-up of yard waste and compost.
- Sanitary Service Company – Food+ Program is an every-other week curbside pickup program
- Green Earth Technology
- Recycling & Disposal Services
- Nooksack Valley Disposal
- Compost your own – to learn more about composting, please visit WSU Whatcom County Extension
Benefits of this program transition are:
- There are more choices for where and how to compost
- The City is no longer paying to ship the composted material out of the area
- The City can provide free yard waste disposal a few, critical times a year
Resource Recovery
In areas where Solid Waste Group staff have removed waste, we make efforts to recover the area by using site stabilization techniques and temporary barriers to prevent further damage to vegetation. We coordinate with the City’s Habitat Restoration program and Parks Department when working on City-owned property.
Report an Issue
There are a variety of ways to report an issue on public property depending on what type of issue you are reporting.
- Report waste issues on public property using SeeClickFix.
- Report unauthorized encampments.
- Report abandoned vehicles.
The City does not manage waste on private property. Waste issues on private property are the property owner’s responsibility.
Resources
Contact
For more information, please contact the Bellingham Public Works Department.
