Seattle sets Recycling Record

Seattle businesses and consumers are recycling more than ever before. Congratulations Seattle! In 2006, 47.5% of your waste went to the recycling facility instead of the landfills. Just who do we thank for this increase?

Businesses are doing more of their part, with a huge 5% year over year gain. Single-owner households and apartment complexes have also increased significantly.  The laws passed in 2006 that allow food to go into the yard waste container have also helped.

One thing from the press release that I don't fully understand is that the "diversion rate" of the recycling, that is the amount of trash that actually gets recycled once it gets to the transfer station, has remained steady at 17.9%.

This seems a bit worrisome to me. What's the point in hitting records or expanding Seattle's recycling program, if the facility is failing to recycle even half of that material? Is consumer responsibility being squandered at the transfer station level?

Source: Seattle.gov