Northeast Recycling & Transfer Station Project
Learn about our plans for the Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station. Once built, the transfer station will serve communities in Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Sammamish, and unincorporated northeast King County.
Open house
Learn more about the Northeast Recycling & Transfer Station Project and review the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which contains studies of two potential site alternatives and a no-action alternative. Visit the online open house now…
Background
The Houghton Transfer Station in Kirkland is one of our busiest transfer stations, but it lacks many recycling services and it’s too old and small to expand.
Replacing the Houghton station will make services more convenient and accessible, and it will also help keep recyclables out of the landfill. The need for a new station was identified in the 2019 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan, which was adopted by 24 cities and the Washington State Department of Ecology.
King County recycling and garbage transfer stations are where residents, businesses, and waste haulers bring garbage and recyclable materials. Garbage is taken to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill. Recyclable materials are trucked to private companies and made into new products.
Project description
To meet the region's growing demand for environmentally responsible waste management services, King County's Solid Waste Division plans to site, design, and build a modern transfer station in northeast King County. The new station will replace the aging Houghton Transfer Station in Kirkland, which has been in service since the mid-1960s and is unable to offer the recycling services customers increasingly need and want.
Set to open in 2029, this new station will be fully enclosed to control noise and odors, and community members will have opportunities to help shape decisions on station design, amenities, and services.
The new station will provide convenient, accessible recycling services for a variety of items and materials. Recycling services will include:
- Metals
- Appliances
- Yard waste
- Wood
- Glass
- Paper
- Plastics
- Other items such as mattresses and household hazardous waste, depending on design and service decisions the community will help influence
What is a recycling & garbage transfer station?
King County recycling and garbage transfer stations are where residents, businesses, and waste haulers bring garbage and recyclable materials. Garbage is taken to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill. Recyclable materials are trucked to private companies and made into new products. Learn where your curbside recyclables and garbage go.
Public involvement
We want to make sure your values and concerns are represented. We want to hear your ideas about the siting, design, construction, and operation of a new station. There are several ways you can get involved:
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Sign up for our eNewsletter to learn about upcoming meetings, comment opportunities, and other ways to share input and help shape decision making.
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Ask a member on the project team to give a presentation to your organization or group.
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Because diversity leads to stronger decision making, we especially hope to involve people who have been historically underrepresented and underserved, including communities of color, Tribes, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people who speak English as a second language.
We will continue to work with the public, providing opportunities for public input to ensure the new station is a good neighbor and community asset. Email us to ask questions, or to request information in alternate formats or languages.
Siting Advisory Group
In fall 2020, the project team recruited community representatives for the Siting Advisory Group (SAG), a community-based group that advises King County on where to site the new station and what to consider while making that decision. To ensure wide representation, the SAG is comprised of both appointed and at-large seats. Appointed seats were held for specific interests and organizations, and at-large seats were filled by community members through an application process. The SAG has 21 members.
Members of the SAG met regularly to learn about the siting process and provide their insights to the County. SAG members are expected to share information about the process with their communities. SAG members listen to community concerns and hopes and share them with the County throughout the site selection process.
See Project schedule for list of SAG meeting dates. All SAG meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Meeting notes will be posted on this website after each meeting.
Environmental Review
The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) is intended to ensure that environmental values are considered during decision-making by state and local agencies. SEPA mandates a process to identify and analyze alternatives, potential environmental impacts, and mitigation measures associated with governmental decisions.
The Environmental Review for proposed sites for the Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station is underway. King County's Solid Waste Division has identified one site in Kirkland and one in Woodinville as potential locations for its Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station Project.
We will study the two sites, along with a no-action alternative, in a formal review process known as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The site alternatives that will be studied in the EIS include:
- The current Houghton Transfer Station property at 11724 NE 60th St. in Kirkland.
Action Alternative 1A and 1B (1.5MB) - A 12.9 acre-site comprised of six properties in the 15000 block of Woodinville-Redmond Rd. NE in Woodinville.
Action Alternative 2 - Watch this video to learn more about the site selection process for this project
- Learn more about the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and the EIS
Next steps
The environmental review began with a process called scoping in the fall of 2022. During scoping, the public was able to share their thoughts on:
- Proposed siting alternatives
- Potential environmental impacts
- Potential community impacts
- Mitigation proposals to reduce or avoid impacts
King County is preparing a Draft EIS that will be available for public review and comment in early 2024. The EIS will identify and analyze:
- Probable adverse environmental impacts of the project
- Reasonable alternatives
- Possible mitigation options
We will continue to work with the public during the siting, design, and construction of the project to understand and respond to questions and concerns.
The Solid Waste Division Director will take the results of the environmental review, financial information, the equity impact report and the socio-economic analysis into account when making the final decision on the location for the future northeast recycling and transfer station.
Project library
- Need for a new recycling and transfer station
- 2019 Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan – See Chapter 5, Pages 134, 141, 142, 143-145 regarding need for a new Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station
- 2006 Solid Waste Transfer and Waste Management Plan
- 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (and Addendum) between King County and Kirkland on Houghton Transfer Station
- Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan
- What is a recycling and garbage transfer station?
- Watch this flyover video of our newest station, the South County Recycling & Transfer Station
- View constantly updated, time-lapse images of the South County Recycling & Transfer Station Project
- Learn more about what modern recycling and transfer stations look like and the expanded services they offer
- Learn how to use the Bow Lake Recycling & Transfer Station
- Overview of site selection process
- Site selection memo
- Broad Area Site Screening
- Broad Area Site Screening (BASS) Report, March 2021
- Broad Area Site Screening (BASS) addendum to reflect new site under consideration, October 2021
- Bass addendum #2
- Parcels 8-20 acres in size: map
- Parcels 2-8 acres in size: map
- 15 sites evaluated in Broad Area Site Screening: map
- Spreadsheet summary of top 206 sites
- Focused Site Screening
- Focused Site Screen (FSS) Report, October 2022
- Four sites evaluated in Focused Site Screening: map
- Environmental review
- Draft Environmental Impact Statement Virtual Public Hearing, March 2024
- Determination of Significance, November 2022
- Revised Determination of Significance, March 2023
- Scoping Summary, October 2023
- Siting Advisory Group (SAG)
- SAG Members
- Community Criteria developed by the Siting Advisory Group
- SAG Meeting #10 – February 21, 2024
- SAG Meeting #9 – November 2, 2022
- SAG Meeting #8 – May 19, 2022
- SAG Meeting #7 – August 9, 2021
- SAG meeting #6 – April 28, 2021
- SAG meeting #5 – March 17, 2021
- SAG meeting #4 – Feb. 3, 2021
- SAG meeting #3 – Dec. 16, 2020
- SAG meeting #2 – Nov. 18, 2020
- SAG meeting # 1 – Oct. 28, 2020
- SAG Kick-off meeting – Oct. 14, 2020
- Community involvement
- Notice mailed to 114,000+ NE King County residents announcing project – Sept 2020
- Notice mailed to 114,000+ NE King County residents announcing selection of 4 possible sites for new station
- Notice mailed to 118,000+ NE King County residents notifying of Public Open House and Information Session and Siting Advisory Group Meeting #8
- Notice mailed to 120,000+ residents notifying of scoping meetings and online open house
- FAQ and White Papers
Project schedule
Updated January 2024 (subject to change) |
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Date |
Actions/Events/Public engagement |
Sep - Oct 2020 | Community members for Siting Advisory Group were recruited. |
Oct 14, 2020 | Siting Advisory Group kick-off meeting was held. Advisory group members were welcomed, an overview of the solid waste system and siting process was shared, and community values were discussed. |
Oct 28, 2020 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #1. Reviewed top 15 sites and considerations for screening the sites. |
Oct 30 - Nov 20, 2020 | A public survey was completed. Survey identified knowledge of the project, use of the current facility, and views on the impacts and benefits of siting a new facility. |
Nov 18, 2020 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #2. Reviewed community input from fall 2020 public survey and developed community criteria and scoring measures. |
Dec 16, 2020 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #3. Finalized community criteria and scoring measures, introduced to criteria weighting. |
Jan 20 - Feb 18, 2021 | Winter 2021 public survey was completed. Survey provided information on top 4 sites and prioritized community criteria. |
Feb 3, 2021 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #4. Developed criteria weighting, reviewed top 4 sites and preliminary scoring of sites. |
March 17, 2021 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #5. Reviewed community input from winter 2021 public survey, finalized weighting and scoring, ranked order of top 4 sites. |
March 31, 2021 | King County identified 3 sites to study in an environmental review. |
April 28, 2021 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #6. Overview of County-selected sites and upcoming environmental review. |
Aug 9, 2021 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #7. Applied community criteria to evaluate potential new site. |
May 12, 2022 | Public Open House and Information Session. This was an opportunity to learn more about the project, meet the project team, and get questions answered by joining the public open house. |
May 19, 2022 | Siting Advisory Group meeting #8. Reviewed siting data, reviewed top 4 sites and ranked order of top 4 sites. |
Aug/Sep 2022 | Environmental review process began. |
Nov 2022/Jan 2023 | Sought public input on what to study in environmental review (“Scoping” public comment period). |
Nov 2, 2022 | Siting Advisory Group meeting #9. Project update and overview of SEPA process. |
Nov 3, 2022 | Issued Determination of Significance and request for comments on scope of Environmental Impact Statement. |
Dec 7, 2022 | Public Scoping Meeting (virtual). Opportunity to provide formal scoping comments for upcoming EIS. |
Dec 8, 2022 | Public Scoping Meeting (in-person, Woodinville). Opportunity to provide formal scoping comments for upcoming EIS. |
March 20, 2023 | Issued Revised Determination of Significance and request for additional comments on the revised scope of Environmental Impact Statement. |
Feb 7, 2024 | Issue Draft Environmental Impact Statement and seek public input. |
Feb 21, 2024 | Siting Advisory Group Meeting #10. Provide input on Draft Environmental Impact Statement. |
March 6, 2024 | Draft EIS Public Hearing (in-person, Kirkland). Opportunity to learn more about the project, learn how to submit formal comments on the DEIS, and make formal public comment on the DEIS. |
March 7, 2024 | Draft EIS Public Hearing (virtual). Opportunity to learn more about the project, learn how to submit formal comments on the DEIS, and make formal public comment on the DEIS. |
March 13, 2024 | Draft EIS Public Hearing (in-person, Woodinville). Opportunity to learn more about the project, learn how to submit formal comments on the DEIS, and make formal public comment on the DEIS. |
Late 2024 | Issue final Environmental Impact Statement. |
Late 2024 | Site for new station will be selected. |
Late 2024 - Mid 2025 | Property acquisition. |
2025 - 2027 | Facility design and permitting. |
2027 - 2029 | Construction. |
2029 | Facility opens to the public. |