Diverted: Tracing the path of recycling in Whatcom County is a multi-part series that follows waste from curbside to commodity market.
Written by Julia Tellman // Photographed by Finn Wendt
City, county curbside recycling changing to single rolling bin
Organic waste collection mandated in Bellingham starting 2025
Part one explores a major shift in how recycling is collected in much of Whatcom County. Local governments have approved “single-stream” recycling, which is supposed to make collection more efficient for the hauler and more convenient for the customer, although contamination rates may increase.
What makes Whatcom’s trash and recycling system unusual?
No landfills, and the only WA county with a privatized ecosystem
Part two visits a few privately owned, family-operated transfer stations in Whatcom County. With no open landfills in the county, these stations serve as the central location where many small loads of trash and recycling are consolidated, loaded and transported elsewhere.
Intelligent robotic sorting cuts landfill waste, risk to human workers
Even in 'facility of the future,' plastic bags are still a problem
Part three visits an “MRF of the future,” a material recovery facility in King County where some of Whatcom County’s recycling goes to be sorted, baled and sent off to buyers around the region. Sophisticated robotic sorting at the facility leads to fewer loads being trucked to the landfill.