At its meeting on Nov. 15, the Walla Walla City Council approved a new residential recycling contract that will allow residents to recycle plastic, specifically plastic types No.1 and 2, starting in January of 2024. Recycling service rates will increase from $6.37 to $7.60 per month. This increase is intended to cover increased fuel costs and the price to sort and transport recyclables. 

The council voted against reintroducing glass recycling. According to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, cost seemed to be the determining factor for this veto, as the monthly recycling rate would be increased another $2.60 if glass was accepted.

As was previously reported by The Wire, plastics were initially removed from Walla Walla’s recycling stream starting in 2020 after a high level of contamination was observed among recycled materials. An educational campaign followed in an attempt to reduce contamination. The reintroduction of plastic recycling was always expected and Walla Walla City Council initially considered reinstating plastic recycling at the beginning of this year. At that time, the council required additional information about where the materials would go, who is buying them and what will happen to them before reinstating plastic recycling. After monitoring contamination via random audits and weighing bales of recycled materials to estimate the presence of non-recyclable materials, the current lack of significant cost and contamination resulted in approval of plastic recycling in 2024.