Donation is available for computers, electronics
February 26, 2013
CleanScapes is accepting unwanted computers and electronics for donation at the company’s Gilman Village store.
Through a partnership between CleanScapes and Seattle-based nonprofit organization InterConnection, residents can drop off old electronics at 317 N.W. Gilman Blvd. Each donation is tax-deductible and benefits InterConnection’s technology access programs.
CleanScapes accepts computers, electronics for recycling
February 5, 2013
NEW — 4 p.m. Feb. 5, 2013
CleanScapes is accepting unwanted computers and electronics for donation at the company’s Gilman Village store.
Through a partnership between CleanScapes and Seattle-based nonprofit organization InterConnection, residents can drop off old electronics at 317 N.W. Gilman Blvd. Each donation is tax-deductible and benefits InterConnection’s technology access programs.
InterConnection then collects the materials and erases the computer hard drives using U.S. Department of Defense protocol. Reusable computers then get refurbished and recycled to nonprofit organizations for use.
InterConnection refurbishes and reuses more than half of the computers it receives. The organization’s refurbished laptops, tablets and desktops benefitted more than 800 nonprofit organizations nationwide and helped thousands of low-income families and students in the Puget Sound area last year.
Issaquah starts 30-day countdown to plastic bag ban
January 31, 2013
NEW — 10 a.m. Jan. 31, 2013
The citywide ban on most retail plastic bags starts March 1, and Issaquah leaders reminded residents to prepare in the 30 days before the legislation goes into effect.
The measure also sets a 5-cent fee for most paper carryout bags. Under the ordinance, retailers keep the fee to offset the cost to phase out plastic bags and shoppers can see the expense itemized on receipts.
Though the ordinance requires most plastic bags to disappear from retailers in March, consumers should not expect to see the bags vanish altogether.
The legislation contains exemptions for plastic bags for bakery items, bulk foods, meat, produce, dry cleaning, newspapers, small hardware items and takeout foods.
Options abound to recycle old Christmas trees
December 31, 2012
NEW — 2 p.m. Dec. 31, 2012
Christmas is history, and residents ready to pitch old Christmas trees can do so in different ways.
Chip trees — minus tinsel and other decorations — into landscaping material or ground finer into a composting soil amendment.
Customers tired of evergreens dropping brown needles can set out trees for yard waste collection on regular yard waste collection days.
Haulers do not collect trees decked in flocking or decorations. Contact garbage haulers for details; CleanScapes and Allied Waste — a local name for national company Republic Services — serve Issaquah.
King County garbage disposal fee hike starts Jan. 1
December 21, 2012
NEW — 10 a.m. Dec. 21, 2012
Residents can expect to pay more for garage pick-up, and to dump garbage at transfer stations and drop boxes, after Jan. 1, as King County seeks to modernize the aging solid waste system.
The average residential customer putting out a single container of garbage for curbside collection per week is likely pay about 57 cents per month more as garbage haulers cover the disposal fees.
Haulers, such as CleanScapes and Allied Waste, pass along the rate increase to customers.
The fee for bringing solid waste to a transfer station or drop box is poised to increase from $117.42 to $129.40 per ton, including tax and a moderate risk waste fee. The minimum fee is due to increase from $20 to $22, including tax and the fee.
Thanksgiving changes Issaquah garbage pick-up
November 20, 2012
Customers should not expect regular garbage service on Nov. 22, Thanksgiving Day.
The haulers serving Issaquah do not collect garbage and recycling on the holiday. Instead, if a customer’s collection day falls on Thanksgiving, service is delayed one day.
So, for example, because Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, customers with garbage and recycling collection on Thursday receive Friday service the day after Thanksgiving, and Friday customers receive Saturday service after the holiday. The regular collection schedules resume Monday, Nov. 26.
Customers could pay more for garbage pickup
October 16, 2012
The cost for garbage pickup in Issaquah and elsewhere in King County is expected to rise next year, after the King County Council approved a rate increase Sept. 24.
Under the updated rate structure, the cost for commercial vehicles, such as garbage trucks, to dump trash at county facilities is $120.17 per ton. The current rate, put in place in September 2011, is $109 per ton.
Haulers, such as CleanScapes and Allied Waste, pass along the rate increase to customers. So, the average customer putting out a single can for pickup can expect to pay about 65 cents more per month next year, although the exact increase depends on how haulers pass on the rate hike to consumers.
The rate is due to increase to $19.22 from $17.49 per load for residents hauling garbage to county transfer stations.
CleanScapes cuts 11 employees; Issaquah service is unaffected
October 16, 2012
The garbage hauler for most Issaquah neighborhoods, Seattle-based CleanScapes, announced a reduction of 11 employees Sept. 20.
The cutback eliminates 11 administrative and management positions.
“None of the changes will affect our daily operations nor will they be visible to our customers,” company President Chris Martin said in a statement. “Every one of our drivers and operations people is part of the new organizational structure. In fact, we are recruiting for operations positions.”
Under a revised structure, Operations Manager Dan Bridges is taking on responsibility for developing a single-stream recovery facility. Bill Emmal oversees all collections and maintenance. Chris Husband continues to lead business development, finance and government relations.
CleanScapes provides garbage collection in Seattle, Shoreline, Des Moines and San Francisco, in addition to Issaquah.
King County increases garbage rate to fund system upgrades
September 27, 2012
NEW — 8 a.m. Sept. 27, 2012
The cost for garbage pickup in Issaquah and elsewhere in King County is expected to rise next year, after the King County Council approved a rate increase Monday.
Under the updated rate structure, the cost for commercial vehicles, such as garbage trucks, to dump trash at county facilities is $120.17 per ton. The current rate, put into place in September 2011, is $109 per ton.
Haulers, such as CleanScapes and Allied Waste, pass along the rate increase to customers. So, the average customer putting out a single can for pickup can expect to pay about 65 cents more per month next year, although the exact increase depends on how haulers pass on the rate hike to consumers.
The rate is due to increase to $19.22 from $17.49 per load for residents hauling garbage to county transfer stations.
CleanScapes opens Gilman Village store
September 25, 2012
The garbage hauler for most Issaquah neighborhoods, Seattle-based CleanScapes, is also a tenant at Gilman Village.
CleanScapes renovated a space in the iconic retail center for a customer service center and store. CleanScapes President Chris Martin and Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger cut the ribbon on the facility Sept. 21.
Customers can stop at the center — 317 N.W. Gilman Blvd., No. 22 — to ask questions about service and drop off difficult-to-recycle items, such as cellphones.
CleanScapes also offers items meant to help consumers reduce waste — such as stainless-steel water bottles and cloth diapers — and products made from recycled materials, including a bike messenger bag fashioned from inner tubes.
The company started garbage and recycling service in Issaquah on July 1.
