Waste 2 Resources > Transporters of Recyclable Materials

Transporters of Recyclable Materials

Introduction

In 2005, Senate Bill 5788, commonly referred to as the Recycling Enforcement & Accountability Act, became law. The bill requires all transporters of recyclable materials to register with Ecology. A transporter of recyclable material is defined as: “Anyone who is paid to transport recyclable material from commercial or industrial sources over the public highways of this state, and who is required to have a common carrier’s permit from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to operate.

Transporters do not include:

1. Carriers of recyclable materials that they own or are buying or selling, and carrying in their own vehicle, as long as this activity is only incidental to their primary business.
2. Entities or persons hauling their own recyclables, or recyclables they purchased, in their own vehicles.
3. Nonprofit or charitable organizations collecting and transporting recyclable materials from a buyback center, a drop box, or a commercial or industrial source of recyclable materials.
4. City municipal solid waste departments or city solid waste contractors.
5. Common carriers whose primary business is not the transport of recyclable materials.

If you have questions regarding transportation of recyclable materials, contact Randy Martin at (360) 407-6136 or email at rama461@ecy.wa.gov.