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City warns Washington's organics mandate could overwhelm local processing; Bartec at or near capacity
Summary
City solid-waste staff told the board that Bartec processed about 107,000 tons in 2025 and its capacity is roughly 105,000–110,000 tons, creating a risk that mandatory residential and business organics requirements could exceed available post-collection capacity without waivers or infrastructure investment.
Trace Bradburn, Spokane's Solid Waste Management Director, briefed the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board on May 14 about the effects of Washington's organics management law and the city's capacity constraints.
Trace summarized the law's phased approach for businesses and residents and said the state's residential ORCA requirement is elective beginning April 1, 2027 and becomes mandatory in ORCA areas on April 1, 2030. He described the law's purpose as reducing methane from landfilled organics: "When waste makes it organic waste and food waste makes it to the landfills, they create methane," he said.
Trace warned that Spokane's primary post-collection processor, Bartec, collected about 107,000 tons in 2025 and has an operational capacity of approximately 105,000–110,000 tons a year. "So in other words, they're at capacity currently," he said, and added the city diverted 9,405 tons away from Bartec last year. That capacity constraint, Trace said, complicates implementing mandatory organics for businesses (BOMA) and for residents (ORCA).
He outlined potential next steps: the city and county could apply for a jurisdictional infrastructure or infeasibility waiver from the Washington Department of Ecology; business exemptions would be administered through the local health district; and residential exemptions are still being fleshed out by local government and haulers. Trace said waivers can be for up to five years but require a plan showing when the jurisdiction would meet mandated service levels.
Trace provided preliminary cost estimates for the city to implement collection infrastructure (excluding trucks): baseline staffing, supervisors and carts could total roughly $3.2 million in 2030, rising to $3.7 million then about $4.3 million by 2035; he noted additional trucks would cost roughly $569,000 each. He did not provide a firm timeline for Bartec's capacity expansion but said Bartec is acquiring land and equipment and that regulators would expect a clear plan if a waiver is requested.
Board members and staff discussed pilot options—neighborhood drop-off sites, community composting, and education campaigns—to expand diversion without immediately stressing Bartec. Jill Reeves and Nicole White described education and community-compositing pilots as ways to divert edible food to food banks and to build community capacity while the larger processing infrastructure is developed.
The board requested staff follow up with more precise cost and timeline figures from Bartec and the county solid-waste plan as part of preparation for potential waiver applications or infrastructure investment planning.
