<B>Washington Recycling Rate Remains Flat</B>

Statistics released by the Washington State Department of Ecology indicate that the state’s recycling rate is holding at a steady level. While the rate is 1.6% lower for 1999 than the previous year, Kip Eagles, the state’s recycling coordinator, says that the numbers have the rate staying fairly flat.

“Really, with the numbers being within the statistical variance of the survey, we are at a pretty flat rate,” he says. While numbers for municipal recycling actually went up, he says, tonnage on the commercial side went down some. This can be partially attributed to the Asian economic slump two years ago.

To bolster commercial recycling in the area, the Washington State Recycling Association, in conjunction with several other organizations, is holding talks around the state to encourage commercial recycling. Offering more technical assistance and funding programs could increase the commercial recycling rate, Eagles says. Also adding more outreach programs could raise tonnage collected.

Eagles says municipalities with less than 500,000 people have a difficult time maintaining recycling programs because of funding. “That is where the state would really help,” Eagles says.

Figures from the survey include:

            --Washingtonians recycled 2,156,857 tons of material in 1999, an increase of 30,000 tons from the previous year

            --The state disposed of 4,480,761 tons of solid waste in 1999, an increase of 392,000 tons.

The findings show Washington residents recycled 33 percent of all solid waste, below the 50 percent recycling goal established by the Waste Not Washington Act of 1989.