Here at The RE Store, our mission is to keep useable building materials out of the waste stream – reusing what can be reused, and making sure as much of the rest that can be recycled is recycled. We’ve diverted over 4 million pounds of construction & demolition waste from the landfill annually – while saving you money and encouraging value out of waste.
The RE Store has worked with the City of Seattle and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) on construction and demolition policies and we’ve helped with diversion even more by working at the North Transfer Station (the dump) on the weekends to inform folks about salvage – taking items from them right on the spot, saving them tipping fees in the process.
SPU has asked us to spread the word to our re-users and re-cyclers – looking for your input as they update Seattle’s long-term solid waste plan. For the seventh straight year, Seattle’s recycling rate has risen, hitting an all-time high of 53.7 percent overall and 70.3 percent for single households. The national recycling average is 32.1 percent. While each city calculates its diversion rates differently, Seattle is considered to be among the national leaders in municipal recycling. And while this is great – it can always improve, and they would like to know how you, your members, your business, or the people/businesses represented by your organization would be affected by the recommendations in the plan.
Read the plan: www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/Garbage_System/Plans/Solid_Waste_Comprehensive_Plan/index.asp.
Tell SPU what you think and take a five-minute survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/spusolidwasteplan.
Or, send a quick note to: SPU_SolidWastePlan@seattle.gov
Let’s make sure we’re represented in SPU’s outreach process – and that we are spreading the word of salvage!