Waste and Recycling

Master Recycler Composter Program
Client: King County, WA
Cascadia has trained Master Recycler Composter (MRC) volunteers in solid waste, recycling, composting, household hazardous waste management, and general resource conservation since 1996. The training is regularly updated to ensure that it remains relevant and reflects current County priorities and initiatives. Covering solid waste systems, recycling opportunities and markets, natural yard care, waste prevention and sustainability issues, and green building, the curriculum emphasizes the relationships between healthy soil, water quality, successful composting, and natural lawn and garden care through the lens of King County’s Zero Waste of Resources initiative. Beginning in 2007, the training also focused on how recycling and composting can reduce King County’s impact on climate change. The training incorporates hands-on exercises and emphasizes activities that teach people how to educate others. Each MRC volunteer receives a training manual, which is updated annually by Cascadia to reflect the most current data and trends.

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Cascadia began to immediately overhaul the way Resource Venture services were marketed, delivered, and tracked; ultimately resulting in superior outcomes. Among the dramatic changes we noted were (1) an increased level of accountability; (2) a more strategic focus; and (3) service documentation that demonstrated a more effective and efficient program. In particular, Cascadia’s “targeting and tracking” database made it possible to focus on the biggest commercial resources users with the greatest potential for conservation, and then measure their progress over time. The program’s unique targeted approach is extremely cost-effective; Cascadia has helped reduce the City’s program costs from about $100/ton diverted in 2006 to about $45/ton in 2008.


- Phil Paschke, Seattle Public Utilities