Touring WM's Cascade Recycling Center
 Solid Waste Division Manager, Margo Gillaspy and Waste Reduction Recycling Education Specialist, Callie Martin sit outside of the Cascade Recycling Center on a sunny morning in Woodinville, WA.
Solid Waste Division staff recently toured the WM Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville. Over the past several years, WM (previously, Waste Management) upgraded its 20-year old recycling facility to accommodate the changes to the recycling industry.
Rebuilt in 2023, this state-of-the-art facility uses cutting-edge technology to power efficient and high-tech recycling. The result is less material going to landfills and more recyclables that can be used for new products. Cascade Recycling Center sorts and bales aluminum cans to be made into new cans, paper and cardboard boxes for new paper products, glass jars for new glass, and water bottles for eco-friendly toys, clothing, carpet and other items.
WM spent $40 million to completely revamp the facility and put in modern equipment such as more advanced optical sorters, and volumetric scanners with eddy current separators for maximum efficiency, versatility and automation. WM can now process up to 650 tons of recyclables per day and increase clean streams of aluminum cans, paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, glass and more. The facility's technology package also includes a system to detect and suppress fires.
Mixed-plastics and mixed-paper products collected at all three Skagit County solid waste sites are sent to the WM Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville for soring and processing.
The facility is considered the most advanced recycling sorting facility west of Chicago. For more information, visit the Cascade Recycling Center website.
 Technology used to sort mixed-paper at the WM Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville
There is no "away" photo
Each month we will post a photo of something we saw that landed on our tipping floor, with the hope of provoking thought about how the item could have been disposed of differently.
 Aluminum gutters
This month we saw a big load of aluminum gutters deposited to our tipping floor. With all other hardware removed, scrap aluminum, such as gutters, can be recycled as scrap aluminum. The recycling area of the Skagit County Recycling & Transfer Station hosts a scrap aluminum bin, where residents can place all scrap aluminum materials such as aluminum wire, sheets, rims, gutters and siding. Aluminum cans are collected separately from scrap aluminum.
Aluminum is one of the most recognized commodities that is used in a closed loop recycling system--which is when a product is recycled to make the same product. According to Earth 911, nearly 70% of each aluminum can made in the US comes from recyclable materials.
Find out where your recyclables go
We received a question this month asking about where recycling goes after it is collected. Learn what happens to the recycling we collect at the Skagit County Recycling & Transfer Station in our response to the question, below.
Dear Skagit County Solid Waste Division,
I am a resident in the area and an environmental and ecosystem sciences major at WSU Global. There is a sentiment on recycling that I am hearing repeated all over the county that I would love to get clarification from the actual source. It is that recycling is a waste of time because it all items go into the general waste anyway. Perhaps I could take a tour, meet with someone at the department and/or be directed towards reliable information that shows proof that recycling efforts are effective and making a difference.
Thank you in advance for any insight you can offer!
- Concerned Recycler
Dear Concerned Recycler,
We received your question about recycling and I wanted to reach out to you to offer some clarification on the topic. The short answer is, yes, recycling still makes a positive impact, and yes, the materials collected are still being remanufactured into non-virgin resources that are then used again. While I cannot tell you where the private recycling companies send their recyclables to, I can tell you where Skagit County takes the recyclables that are collected at our facilities. Here is a quick breakdown:
- Mixed plastics are taken by Waste Management and processed for recycling at the Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville, WA
- Mixed paper, steel, aluminum, and glass are taken and processed for recycling by Skagit River Steel and Recycling in Burlington.
- After the above materials are processed by the respective, private companies, they sell them to companies for further remanufacture. At this point the materials are broken down further to create new feedstock for new materials to be made and produced.
- Unfortunately, there is no regulation in place for private companies to be transparent about where they send their recyclable materials. However, many recycling companies are happy to tell you where they send materials for further remanufacturing and recycling when you ask them. Some recycling companies, such as Ridwell, volunteer this information, as they know their clients appreciate having the “close the loop” knowledge about where their recyclables go and how recycling helps in the process of materials recovery and remanufacture.
All of the recycling collected in blue curbside carts in Skagit County goes to the Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville as well, which was recently upgraded and rebuilt to be the highest level recycling sorting facility west of Chicago. For more information about this facility, and to take a virtual tour, visit the website.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Recycling continues to reduce our reliance on the extraction of virgin natural resources, while saving massive quantities of energy in the forms of water, power, and transport.
Sincerely,
Skagit County Solid Waste
Visit Your Local Compost Demonstration Site
Did you know that the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden is home to a beautiful compost demonstration site? Along with lush and well-cared-for gardens, visitors can see and feel the composting process at work, and view a variety of composting systems and uses. The site includes composting systems, displays, interpretive signs, and plants growing in varying amounts of compost. Skagit County Master Gardener volunteers maintain the demonstration site, and can be seen actively working the compost bins most Tuesday mornings throughout the growing season.
This compost demonstration site is also used for workshops, and to teach residents of Skagit County about the basic building blocks of creating healthy backyard soils.
Check it out for yourself by visiting the WSU Discovery Garden, for free, any weekday, dawn until dusk. Located adjacent to the WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center
(NWREC), 16650 State Route 536 (Memorial Hwy) in Mount Vernon. Visitors to the gardens can park in the large gravel parking lot to the west of the main NWREC building.
 Master Gardener and composter extaordinaire, Herta Kurp, tends to compost bins at the WSU Master Gardener Discovery Garden compost demonstration site.
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Upcoming Events
Each season the Solid Waste Division's Education & Outreach team offers chances to learn methods for making less garbage. We'll also highlight other local events focused on reducing waste, repair and repurposing materials. Get your recycling, composting, and waste reduction questions answered, and take home materials to help you succeed. Catch us this month at a local event or free workshop near you!
WSU Master Gardener Plant Fair
 Vessel Turn-In Recycling Day
 Fix It Days
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