San Juan County operates a recycling and waste disposal facility on San Juan Island, Orcas Island and Lopez Island.

Each year our customers bring over 11,000 tons of garbage, recyclable materials and miscellaneous junk to our facilities. It is the staff's job to handle this waste in ways that minimize its impact on the environment.

• Reusable items are set aside in hopes of finding new homes.
• Hazardous materials must be separated from recyclables and garbage by our customers; hazardous waste collections are held yearly on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Island. Look for announcements on this web page.
• Recyclables are co-mingled on Orcas and San Juan Islands (see guidelines on this page).
• Materials such as aluminum and tin cans, cardboard and plastics are baled on Lopez Island before going to market, to cut down on transport costs. Most recyclable materials are trucked to markets on the mainland.
• The waste which is left is placed in large shipping containers and carried by truck to a large regional landfill in the northeast corner of Oregon.