Recyclables aren’t trash anymore – and Seattleites know it more than ever! Last week Mayor Greg Nickels announced that Seattle set a new city record for recycling in 2008, with 50 percent of the city’s residential, commercial and self-haul waste being recycled instead of going to the landfill.

2008 marks the fifth straight year of increased recycling in Seattle. In 2008, Seattle’s single-family residents diverted 65.4 percent of their waste through recycling and composting, up from 64.8 percent in 2007. All in all, in 2008 Seattle reduced the amount of garbage shipped to a landfill in Arlington, Ore., by 40,000 tons.

Want to test your recycling and composting know-how? Try out Seattle Public Utilities’ new Where Does it Go? Recycling Game. See how fast you can correctly sort items like yard clippings, juice boxes, and plastic lids into Seattle’s food and yard waste, recycling and garbage containers.

For more information on recycling procedures, residential or commercial collection services, and other utility questions, visit Seattle Public Utilities’ services page.

Read the Mayor’s blog or press release on the Seattle recycling rate.