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Spokane to accept PET and polypropylene in curbside recycling; city and regional upgrades cited

Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board (Spokane) · February 13, 2026

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Summary

The solid-waste director told the board the city will add PET (#1), polypropylene (#5) and certain single-use paper cups with polyethylene lining to the recycling stream, enabled by regional investments in near‑infrared optical sorting at the Smart Center; staff emphasized outreach to residents and businesses.

City solid-waste staff presented changes to the curbside recycling list: the city will accept PET (#1), polypropylene (#5) and single-use paper cups with polyethylene liners, citing an $18 million regional Smart Center investment in near‑infrared optical sorting that enables automated separation.

Trace Bradburn said the change will capture more recoverable material without raising rates and leverages recent Smart Center upgrades. Staff emphasized the need for clear outreach messaging to residents and businesses (including multi‑family properties) to limit contamination and explained that some materials will be tracked separately to produce data on diversion and greenhouse-gas impacts over time.

Board members and staff discussed practical points — for example, residents should remove lids and try to keep containers reasonably clean — and noted continued need for monitoring markets and for county cooperation to maximize regional diversion.