Seattle makes recycling mandatory.

Seattle's City Council has voted unanimously to make recycling mandatory for residents.

Enforcement of the new legislation will include an education program that would begin by the end of 2004's first quarter.

The Seattle Times reports that the new rules require Seattle residents to collect paper, old corrugated containers, glass and plastic bottles and aluminum and tin cans for recycling starting Jan. 1, 2005. If these materials are found in garbage cans, the containers will be tagged as part of a yearlong education campaign.

Beginning in 2006, residential customers will be warned if their trash is comprised of more than 10 percent of these recyclable materials. If banned materials are found three times, the city will refuse to collect the garbage until the recyclables are removed.

Commercial customers may be fined up to $50 for each container that includes banned materials. Single-family households, however, will not face a monetary penalty under the new rules.

Seattle's recycling rate, which dropped from 44 percent in 1995 to 38 percent in 2001, spurred the mandatory approach. The city's goal is a 60 percent recycling rate by 2010.

The mandatory recycling program will affect commercial establishments by banning disposal of paper, cardboard and yard waste in garbage. Residents of multifamily and mixed-use buildings will be banned from disposing of newspaper, mixed paper, old cardboard, glass bottles and jars, plastic containers and tin and aluminum cans in garbage. According to local news reports, the program may allow exemptions for commercial or multifamily customers without adequate space for recycling.

According to the Seattle Times, the recycling initiative is projected to have a net cost of $272,000 in 2004. By 2007, City Council projects a net savings of more than $2 million as more waste is diverted from landfills and the city saves on disposal costs, Councilwoman Margaret Pageler told the paper.