Washington Ecology Published a Single Needs Assessment Timeline

Washington Ecology’s needs assessments page now carries one clean key dates table: draft preliminary needs assessment out for public comment in September 2026; final preliminary needs assessment December 31, 2026; draft full needs assessment out for public comment in September 2027; final full needs assessment December 31, 2027. The August 13 Advisory Council notes corroborate it, recording a September 29 draft going to Ecology and the council, and an October 8 council meeting in Spokane focused on the preliminary needs assessment.

This resolves something we have deliberately not published until now. Three separate Ecology surfaces used to give different timing for the needs assessments, so this site published no single date rather than pick one. Ecology has now put them in one table and the council notes agree with it, so the dates above are what we will carry.

What this means for you: a date you can actually plan around. The preliminary needs assessment is the document that turns Washington’s collection lists into a cost estimate, and the cost estimate is what eventually becomes your fee. The September 2026 comment window is the first chance to respond to it. Note that one date on Ecology’s own pages is still unreconciled: the Recycling Reform Act landing page says “by 2027” for publishing the statewide collection lists, while the statutory date for developing initial lists is October 1, 2026. Source: Washington Department of Ecology, Recycling Reform Act needs assessments (read August 23, 2026).