Olympia, WA Trash and Recycling Collection Schedule

The city of Olympia provides municipal trash, recycling, and organics collection for residents. This article explains Olympia’s collection schedule, cart info, holiday changes, and other key details to know.

Overview of Trash, Recycling, and Organics

• Weekly trash collection with city-provided carts
• Biweekly recycling and organics collection with city-provided carts
• Find your collection days using the collection calendar or Recycle Coach app
• Holidays delay collection by one day that week

Olympia utilizes automated collection using city-provided carts. Residents wheel carts to the curb on their scheduled day. A truck with a mechanical arm empties the cart into the truck and returns the cart.

Separate carts are provided for trash, recycling, and organics. Recycling and organics are collected biweekly on alternating weeks while trash is collected weekly.

Finding Your Collection Schedule

You can look up your assigned collection days:

• Collection calendar: Check Olympia’s collection calendar and find your address.

• Recycle Coach app: Download the free app or check the web version and enter your address.

• Utility bill: Your collection days are listed on your city utility bill.

The calendar and Recycle Coach provide collection reminders and let you set up alerts on your collection days.

Trash Collection

• Weekly trash collection
• City-provided carts (选择 20, 35, 65, or 95 gallon size)
• Cart placement guidelines:
  • Wheels against curb
  • Arrow on lid pointing towards street
  • 3 feet clearance on all sides
• Limit cart overflow – lid should fully close

Check your collection calendar for your assigned trash pickup day. Common collection days are:

• Monday/Thursday
• Tuesday/Friday
• Wednesday only

If a holiday occurs on your normal trash day, pickup moves to the following day (Friday pickup moves to Saturday).

Recycling Collection

• Biweekly collection every other week
• Recycling weeks alternate between Week A and Week B
• Check your collection calendar to see if you are on Week A or Week B

Recycling is collected biweekly on the same day as your regular trash pickup. Check your collection calendar to see if you are scheduled for Week A or Week B recycling.

For example:

• Week A: Recycling collected on your normal pickup day
• Week B: No recycling collection

This alternates every other week. Holidays do not change your assigned recycling weeks.

Organics Collection

• Biweekly collection every other week
• Organics weeks alternate between Week A and Week B
• Check your collection calendar to see if you are on Week A or Week B

Food scraps and yard waste collection follows the same biweekly schedule as recycling. Your assigned organic waste weeks (Week A or Week B) are listed on the collection calendar.

Place organics cart at the curb each collection week just like your recycling cart. Note that organics collection is seasonal – it pauses during the winter and resumes in April.

Cart Size and Placement

Olympia provides instructions on cart size selection and curbside placement:

• Trash carts: 20, 35, 65, or 95 gallons
• Recycling carts: 35, 65, or 95 gallons
• Organics carts: 35 or 95 gallons

Carts must be placed properly at the curb for automated collection:

• Wheels against curb
• Cart lid opening facing the street
• 3 feet clearance on all sides
• Cart lid able to fully close (no overflow)

Holiday Collection Changes

If your normal pickup day falls on a major holiday, collection is delayed by one day for the rest of the week.

Olympia observes these holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Presidents’ Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

For example, if your pickup is normally Friday and Christmas Day is on a Friday, your pickup moves to Saturday that week.

Additional Olympia Collection Programs

Olympia offers a few other waste disposal programs:

• Large Item Pickup: Schedule pickup of large appliances, furniture, electronics. Fees apply.

• Saturday Drop-off Site: Drop off recyclables year-round. Seasonal organics and limited trash drop-off.

• Hazardous Waste: Safely dispose of hazardous waste like chemicals, batteries, fluorescent tubes, and more.

Recycling and Organics Carts

Check what can be placed in your Olympia recycling and organics carts:

Recycling Cart:

• Paper, cardboard, newspaper
• Glass bottles and jars
• Metal cans
• Plastic bottles, jugs, tubs #1-7
• Milk and juice cartons

Organics Cart:

• Food scraps and compostable items
• Food-soiled paper
• Yard waste like leaves and branches

When in doubt, use the Waste Wizard search tool to check if an item is recyclable, compostable, or trash. Keep items loose – no plastic bags in carts.