Transfer Site Locations
Skagit County Recycling & Transfer Station
Open to commercial and household garbage, and household recycling
14104 Ovenell Road, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
(360) 416-1570
Hours of operation: Every day from 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Closed: New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
Garbage Fees:
$20 minimum (covers up to 360 pounds)
$105/ton
Sauk Recycling & Transfer Station
Open to household garbage and recycling
50796 State Route 20, Concrete, WA 98237
(360) 853-8810
Hours of operation: Thursday - Sunday from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed: New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
Garbage Fees:
$20 minimum (covers up to 360 pounds)
$105/ton
**No construction or demolition debris accepted.**
Clear Lake Recycling & Compactor Site
Open to household garbage and recycling
23202 Howey Road, Clear Lake, WA 98235
(360) 856-5083
Hours of operation: Friday - Monday from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Closed: New Year's Day, President's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
Garbage Fees:
$7/can
**No construction debris or large items accepted. Household garbage only.**
All three locations accept the following:
- Used oil
- Antifreeze
- Appliances
If you have additional Household Hazardous Waste, check out the our Household Hazardous Waste Facility for more information and expanded disposal options.
Household Hazardous Waste Facility
The Skagit County Household Hazardous Waste Station is located within the Skagit County Transfer & Recycling Station
You can responsibly dispose of various types of hazardous waste at the Skagit County Household Hazardous Waste facility. To identify HHW look for the words, "Caution," "Warning," or "Danger" on chemicals, fertilizers, and household cleaners. Don't throw these items in the trash. Bring them to the HHW Facility to safe disposal and processing.
FREE disposal of up to 25 gallons for Skagit County households per month, other restrictions may apply. Please no explosives, radioactive materials, asbestos, or marine flares.
Located within the Skagit County Recycling & Transfer Station main campus
14104 Ovenell Road, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. plus the first Saturday of every month.
For more info, check out our website or call the Household Hazardous Waste Facility at
(360) 416-1580
Solid Waste Employee of the Month
Get to know Elena Pritchard
Elena first joined Skagit County in 2007 and joined our Solid Waste team as our Staff Assistant in 2013. Elena recently celebrated 15 years with the Public Works Department! She originally wanted to be a Skagit County employee to become familiar with and contribute to her new community. At work, she loves helping her community by answering questions and giving out resources that aid people to do what they can to help the environment. If you call us with disposal questions, Elena will be there to answer them and provide support. Outside of work, Elena loves exploring Mount Vernon and it's beauty. She visits the River Walk nearly every day and stops by various antique shops, markets, and fairs to find little treasures.
"I am proud to be part of a Solid Waste team of people who are dedicated to their service to the public, and who are dedicated to each other as a family." - Elena Pritchard
Skagit County Solid Waste Admin Assistant, Elena Pritchard, celebrates 15 years working for Skagit County.
Education & Outreach
Here Comes the Fun! Skagit County Fair 2023
A huge thank you to everyone who came out to see us at our outreach booth in Barn D this August 9th - 12th at the Skagit County Fair. The Skagit County Solid Waste Division has participated with an education display for over 20 years at the County Fair, and we are proud to contribute to such a positive community tradition. Tons of kids learned about recycling and home composting thanks to our new prize wheel, and we heard lots of positive feedback from people about their enjoyable, sometimes wild, adventures in home composting. We happily answered questions about smart disposal and waste reduction people had, and even added a handful of new subscribers to this newsletter--to whom we offer a warm welcome!
Summer nostalgia at its best: Green farm tractor seen removing sawdust from the 4-H show pavillion following the Skagit County Fair of 2023.
Updates to the Waste Reduction & Recycling Education Outreach display
This summer, we redesigned all three of our outreach boards. Two of them debuted at the Skagit County Fair. Least to say, they were huge success! Our education boards now offer a cohesive look by use of similar graphics, font, layout, and helpful mascot characters like a talking composting worm. In addition, we upgraded our tablecloths and printed them with our new Waste Reduction & Recycling Education Division logo. We also refreshed our display booth with new interactive learning games. We created a Compost Critter Coloring Sheet and now offer a free coloring station at many events using recycled crayons. We will debut a new Waste Sorting Game at the upcoming Anacortes Farmers Market, September 9th. Be sure to stop by for family-friendly fun at one of our upcoming outreach events listed below.
Our updated recycling poster as seen at the 2023 Skagit County Fair.
New Social Media Series: Dispose Differently
Take a look! We have a new series debuting our social media platforms this fall called, Dispose Differently (DD). Inspired by Solid Waste Intern, Whitney Latimer's daily office view of the tipping floor, the series will focus on alternative disposal options to items commonly dumped as garbage. Photos will be taken "live" as they accumulate on the dump floor, showing us where there may be a gap in Skagit resident's understanding of disposal options. DD will highlight such frequent items as mattresses, corrugated cardboard, and untreated wood. Most of these materials still have life in them and can easily be repurposed or recycled. Each post will discuss alternatives to where these commonly dumped items can go, supporting you in your quest to dispose differently than the landfill. |
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Annual Fall Tire Round Up
 New location & online registration
Last year, our tire round up was a massive success. We quickly reached our maximum capacity, and had to close the event early. This year, we are doing things differently.
Mark your calendar for the first Thursday and Friday in October, where we will offer our tire round-up at the Skagit County Fairgrounds north entrance area. The recycling event runs from 10 am to 2 pm each day. Participation is limited to 12 tires per household, a number that will be strictly enforced. Tires can be on or off rim, but only road tires will be accepted (vehicle, motorcycle, semi). No tractor tires please.
Residents must sign up by completing an online registration form. Each household has the opportunity to choose one, thirty minute time slot to dispose of their 12 tires. Need to share a vehicle to haul your tires? No problem. However, parties must register their 12-tire disposals separately. Any resident hauling in more than 12 tires without adequate household registrations will be turned away at the entry gate. One driver holding multiple registrations is permissible.
Participating residents have two choices to confirm their tire registration upon entrance at the event. They can print a paper copy of their registration confirmation and bring it with them to the round-up, or be prepared to show all photo IDs matching registered household names.
Unfortunately, the Skagit County Solid Waste Division cannot offer assistance to residents unloading tires in any capacity. If you think you may need help unloading, or that it may take you longer that 30 minutes to unload tires on your own, we request that you bring someone along to help you. Helpers do not have to be registered or members or disposing household.
Check our social media pages for event updates. Find us on Nextdoor, Instagram (@skagitsolidwaste) and Facebook (Skagit County Solid Waste).
Questions? Give us a call or send an email at (360) 416-1575 or calliem@co.skagit.wa.us
2022 Washington Litter Study Results
We are very excited to announce that the 2022 Statewide Litter Study is published and available on the Department of Ecology's website! This is the first litter study in Washington in nearly 20 years. We sorted and measured litter along roadways, on-off ramps, rest areas, parks and state-owned recreation areas. Many of the 182 sampling sites were used in the 1999 and 2004 litter studies, and we used the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map to ensure representation across diverse communities. Homeless encampments were outside of the scope of this study, meaning all of the litter measured comes from travelers who intentionally litter or unintentionally litter by failing to properly secure their cargo or clean out the bed of their truck.
Some findings include:
- Nearly 38 million pounds of litter accumulate on Washington roads, on-off ramps and public areas every year.
- Washington has 42% more pieces of litter per mile than the national average.
- Interstate highways get more litter than all other roadway types combined and accumulate an average of 73,580 pieces of litter (1,579 pounds) per mile per year.
- On-off ramps are a new hot spot for litter and receive 151,017 pieces of litter (713 pounds) per acre every year. This is 7 times higher than measured in 2004.
- The top three most littered items across all site types by weight are glass beer bottles, construction and demolition debris and cardboard boxes.
- The top three most littered items by piece are cigarette butts, construction and demolition debris and food wrappers and snack bags.
- 38-58% of litter (by weight) is not covered by the state's litter tax. Many items covered by the litter tax - such as cigarette butts and food wrappers - are lightweight. Many of the heavier frequently littered items are not covered.
Each month we will answer a recycling or disposal question recently asked by a member of the Skagit County community. These questions are sent to us by email and phone call. Do you have a recycling or disposal question you'd like answered? Email us at calliem@co.skagit.wa.us or ask us through a post or comment on one of our social media pages. Your questions could be chosen for an upcoming newsletter!
Dear Skagit County Solid Waste Division,
It used to be that we could not recycle #5 plastics. Is that still true? Or can I put those in my recycle bin for Waste Management? (Most general websites say that these can now be added to our recycling, but every site also says I should check my local guidelines. I am confused. Please help!
Many thanks,
Skagit Recycler
 Dear Skagit Recycler,
We now suggest that people recycle plastics by shape, rather than number. So to answer your question, it depends on what shape the #5 plastic is. Usually in consumer goods, #5 plastics come in the form of dairy tubs. This could be a cottage cheese tub, a small yogurt container or cup, or a larger yogurt container. If for some reason you find that your shampoo and conditioner bottles are also #5, you can recycle those too, since they come in the shapes of bottles, which are accepted for curbside recycling.
Check out the Recycle Right resources page for more guidance. The site offers the most recent recycling guidelines to be followed for curbside recycling around Skagit County, with the one exception being Sedro Woolley, that does their own recycling. Overall, the Waste Management guidelines are to follow wherever you find yourself in Skagit. As you can see, the guidelines do not designate whether a plastic is recyclable or not based on the number within the chasing arrows at the bottom. The recyclability of a plastic is designated by the shape.
I hope this helps. Thanks for the inquiry! Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if have more questions.
Sincerely,
The Skagit County Solid Waste Division
What We're Reading
1. Research spoiler: Reducing food waste has unintended consequences:
What are the potential unplanned outcomes of food waste reduction efforts, and how could they change consumer behavior?
2. Reusable cup systems gain scale through city and venue partnerships:
Learn about promising alternatives to single-use items at large events, like reusable cups.
3. Over-emphasizing recycling is a problem:
You know the popular slogan, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," but did you know that the first two R's often get less emphasis? Instead of focusing solely on recycling, this article asks us to look at sustainable ways to tackle waste through on the basis of waste reduction.
 Outreach Events
Get your recycling and waste reduction questions answered, and take home materials to help you succeed by visiting us at one of our education & outreach booths.
Anacortes Farmers Market
Saturday, September 9th 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Located at the Depot Arts Center
611 R Ave, Anacortes, WA 98221
Sedro Woolley Farmers Market
Wednesday, September 27th
3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Located at Town Square in downtown Sedro-Woolley
617 Metcalf St
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
Fall Tire Round-Up
Thursday, October 5th & Friday, October 6th
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. each day
Located at the Skagit County Fairgrounds, North Gate Entrance
501 Taylor St, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Register Online
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