Chapter 16.04
DEFINITIONS

Sections:

16.04.010    Alley.

16.04.020    Apartment hotel.

16.04.030    Apartment house.

16.04.040    Boarding or rooming house.

16.04.045    Repealed.

16.04.050    City.

16.04.060    City manager.

16.04.070    Contractor.

16.04.080    Detachable container.

16.04.085    Repealed.

16.04.090    Dwelling unit.

16.04.095    Electronic waste.

16.04.100    Garbage.

16.04.110    Garbage can/cart/bag.

16.04.120    Ordinance unit.

16.04.125    Organic waste.

16.04.126    Repealed.

16.04.127    Repealed.

16.04.130    Refuse.

16.04.140    Refuse disposal site and disposal site.

16.04.143    Repealed.

16.04.146    Repealed.

16.04.150    Rubbish.

16.04.152    Single-family residence.

16.04.155    Special waste.

16.04.160    Street.

16.04.170    Sunken can.

16.04.180    Solid waste.

16.04.185    Textile waste.

16.04.190    Waste recycling.

16.04.200    Waste reduction.

16.04.210    Disposal.

16.04.220    Repealed.

16.04.230    Extra unit of garbage.

16.04.240    Repealed.

16.04.250    Compost products.

16.04.010 Alley.

“Alley” means a public or private way giving access to the rear of lots or buildings. (Ord. 2038 § 1(A), 1969)

16.04.020 Apartment hotel.

“Apartment hotel” means a building providing accommodations for transient guests in which at least fifty percent of the gross habitable floor area is used by permanent residents. (Ord. 2038 § 1(B), 1969)

16.04.030 Apartment house.

“Apartment house” means a building or portion thereof containing two or more dwelling units. (Ord. 2038 § 1(C), 1969)

16.04.040 Boarding or rooming house.

“Boarding or rooming house” means a building other than a hotel, where meals and room, or rooms only, are provided for compensation for seven or more nontransient persons. (Ord. 2038 § 1(D), 1969)

16.04.045 Carryout bag.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 2, 2015)

16.04.050 City.

“City” means the city of Kirkland. (Ord. 2038 § 1(E), 1969)

16.04.060 City manager.

“City manager” means the city manager of Kirkland and authorized employees. (Ord. 2038 § 1(F), 1969)

16.04.070 Contractor.

“Contractor” means those contracting with the city to collect and dispose of garbage and rubbish as herein described, or the authorized representative of such contractors. (Ord. 2038 § 1(G), 1969)

16.04.080 Detachable container.

“Detachable container” means a watertight, metal container, not less than one-half cubic yard in capacity and equipped with a tight fitting cover. Containers two cubic yards and under shall be equipped with at least three wheels. (Ord. 2038 § 1(H), 1969)

16.04.085 Disposable plastic carryout bag.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 3, 2015)

16.04.090 Dwelling unit.

“Dwelling unit” in addition to its ordinary meaning includes a room or suite of rooms used as a residence and which has cooking facilities therein, but does not include house trailers in trailer courts, nor rooms in hotels or motels. (Ord. 2038 § 1(I), 1969)

16.04.095 Electronic waste.

“Electronic waste” means scrap electronics that are no bigger than two feet by two feet per unit in size and less than sixty pounds per unit, including computer equipment, VCRs, audio equipment, televisions, cell phones, and other equipment containing circuit boards that are placed next to the recycling cart. Scrap electronics do not include speakers, or kitchen appliances, or as defined in contractor’s promotional materials. (Ord. 3963 § 1, 2004)

16.04.100 Garbage.

“Garbage” means all discarded putrescible waste matter, including small dead animals weighing not over fifteen pounds, but not including sewage or human or animal excrement. (Ord. 2038 § 1(J), 1969)

16.04.110 Garbage can/cart/bag.

“Garbage can/cart/bag” means either: (a) a traditional garbage can being a cylindrical watertight sheet metal or plastic container not exceeding thirty-two gallons in capacity, weighing not over twenty-six pounds when empty and without cover, fitted with two sturdy handles, one on each side, and a tight cover equipped with a handle, except in the case of “sunken cans” or (b) “cart” being a plastic container on wheels with a handle and a hinged, tight-fitting cover, the capacity of which is twenty, thirty-five, sixty-four, or ninety-six gallons or (c) “bag” as described in Section 16.04.120. (Ord. 3963 § 2, 2004: Ord. 3525 § 1, 1996: Ord. 3296 § 2, 1991: Ord. 2038 § 1(K), 1969)

16.04.120 Ordinance unit.

“Ordinance unit” means a bag made of polymer or similar plastic material of not less than two mil thickness containing material or garbage, one box or carton empty or filled with rubbish as herein defined, one small shrub or small tree, or bundle of rubbish, securely bundled so that none of the material blows about and so it is not easily broken apart and which is of such size that the longest dimension does not exceed three feet. An ordinance unit shall be of not more than thirty gallons total capacity not to exceed sixty pounds in total weight, and shall be in good condition for handling at the time of collection. (Ord. 2231 § 1, 1973: Ord. 2038 § 1(L), 1969)

16.04.125 Organic waste.

“Organic waste” includes yard waste and food waste, which are collected together in residential gray organic waste carts. Yard waste includes grass clippings, branches, etc. Food waste includes all organic waste from the household: plate scrapings including meat, bones, fat; fruit and vegetable peelings, pits, cores; food-soiled paper such as pizza boxes, napkins, paper plates. (Ord. 3963 § 3, 2004)

16.04.126 Pass-through charge.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 4, 2015)

16.04.127 Recyclable paper bag.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 5, 2015)

16.04.130 Refuse.

“Refuse” means either garbage or rubbish or both garbage and rubbish. (Ord. 2038 § 1(N), 1969)

16.04.140 Refuse disposal site and disposal site.

“Refuse disposal site” and “disposal site” mean the area or facilities designated by the city for the disposal of garbage and rubbish including landfills, transfer stations and municipal incinerators. (Ord. 2038 § 1(O), 1969)

16.04.143 Retail establishment.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 6, 2015)

16.04.146 Reusable bag.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 7, 2015)

16.04.150 Rubbish.

“Rubbish” means all discarded nonputrescible waste matter. (Ord. 2038 § 1(M), 1969)

16.04.152 Single-family residence.

The terms “single-family residence” and “residential,” unless otherwise qualified by the context in which they are used, mean a building or a structure containing a single dwelling unit. (Ord. 3205 § 5 (part), 1990)

16.04.155 Special waste.

“Special waste” means certain types of nonsingle-family residential (i.e., commercial) wastes, including:

(1)    Containerized waste (e.g., a drum, portable tank, lugger box, roll-off box, paid, bulk tanker, etc.) listed in subparagraphs (2) through (7) of this section. Waste in drums, tanks, or other large containers—i.e., liquids, sludges, powders, grits and other wastes whose identity is not defined;

(2)    Waste containing free liquids. “Free liquids” means liquid that can run out of waste if put in filter;

(3)    Sludge waste. Sludge is defined as “a solid or semisolid material containing less than forty percent by weight solids, and is not a free liquid;

(4)    Waste from an industrial process. An industrial waste that is not office-type or residential-type waste can conceivably fit in this category;

(5)    Waste from a pollution-control process. Wastes from water treatment processes, air pollution control process (such as baghouses, etc.) or other pollution-control processes. Water and air are the most common;

(6)    Residue from a spill of a chemical substance or commercial product or a waste listed in subparagraphs (1) through (5) or (7);

(7)    Contaminated residuals from the cleanup of a facility generating, storing, treating, recycling or disposing wastes, chemical substances or commercial products listed in subparagraphs (1) through (6);

(8)    Friable asbestos from building demolition or cleaning; wall board, wall spray coverings, pipe insulation, etc. Nonfriable asbestos is a special waste if it has been processed, handled or used in such a way that asbestos fibers may be freely released;

(9)    Commercial products or chemicals which are off-specification, outdated, unused, or banned. Outdated or off-specification uncontaminated food or beverage products in original containers are not special waste.

This category includes containers which once held commercial products or chemicals unless the container is empty. A container is empty when:

(A)    All wastes have been removed that can be removed using the practices commonly employed to remove materials from the type of container, e.g., pouring, pumping or aspirating, and

(B)    An end has been removed (for containers in excess of twenty-five gallons), or

(C)    No more than one inch of residue remains in the bottom of the container or inner liner, or

(D)    No more than 3.0 percent by weight of the total capacity of the container remains in the container (for containers up to one hundred ten gallons), or

(E)    No more than 0.3 percent by weight of the total capacity of the container remains in the container (for containers larger than one hundred ten gallons).

Containers which once held acutely hazardous wastes (as defined under U.S. or Canadian federal rules) must be triple-rinsed with an appropriate solvent or cleaned by an equivalent method to be considered empty. Alternately, the container’s lining may be removed and managed as hazardous waste by Chemical Waste Management or other equivalent company. Containers which held substances regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act must be emptied according to label instructions or triple-rinsed with an appropriate solvent.

Cylinders of compressed gas are empty when the pressure in the container is substantially equivalent to atmospheric pressure;

(10) Untreated biomedical waste. Any waste capable of inducing infection due to contamination with infectious agents from a biomedical source, including but not limited to a hospital, medical clinic, nursing home, medical practitioner, mortuary, taxidermist, veterinarian, veterinary hospital, animal testing laboratory, or university medical laboratory. Any sharps from these sources must be rendered harmless or placed in needle-puncture-proof containers;

(11) Treated biomedical wastes. Any wastes from a biomedical source, including but not limited to a hospital, medical clinic, nursing home, medical practitioner, mortuary, taxidermist, veterinary hospital, animal testing laboratory, or university medical laboratory which has been autoclaved or otherwise heat-treated or sterilized so that it is no longer capable of inducing infection. Any sharps from these sources must be rendered harmless or placed in needle-proof containers;

(12) Liquids and sludges from septic tanks, food service grease traps, or washwaters and wastewaters from commercial laundries, laundromats and car washes unless these wastes are managed at public or commercial wastewater treatment works;

(13) Chemical-containing equipment removed from service (examples: filters, cathode-ray tubes, lab equipment, acetylene tanks, fluorescent light tubes, etc.);

(14) Waste produced from the demolition or dismantling or industrial process equipment of facilities contaminated with chemicals from the industrial process. (Ord. 3205 § 5 (part), 1990)

16.04.160 Street.

“Street” means a public or private way, other than “alleys,” used for public travel. (Ord. 2038 § 1(P), 1969)

16.04.170 Sunken can.

“Sunken can” means garbage cans which are sunken covered receptacles specifically designed to contain garbage cans and where the top of the garbage can is approximately at ground level. (Ord. 2038 § 1(Q), 1969)

16.04.180 Solid waste.

“Solid waste” means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes including, but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, and discarded commodities, but shall not include dangerous, hazardous or extremely hazardous waste. (Ord. 3117 § 1 (part), 1988)

16.04.185 Textile waste.

“Textile waste” includes clean usable clothing and linens, sheets, towels, tablecloths, blankets, bedspreads, stuffed animals, belts, hats, scarves, purses, wallets, backpacks, totes, paired leather or canvas shoes (rubber banded or tied together) placed in clear tied plastic bags and placed next to recycling cart. Boots, sandals, high heels, skates and slippers will not be collected. (Ord. 3963 § 4, 2004)

16.04.190 Waste recycling.

“Waste recycling” means reusing waste materials and extracting valuable materials from a waste stream. (Ord. 3117 § 1 (part), 1988)

16.04.200 Waste reduction.

“Waste reduction” means reducing the amount or type of waste generated, but shall not include reduction through energy recovery or incineration. (Ord. 3117 § 1 (part), 1988)

16.04.210 Disposal.

“Disposal” means the final treatment, utilization processing, deposition or incineration of solid waste, but shall not include waste reduction or waste recycling as defined in this chapter. (Ord. 3117 § 1 (part), 1988)

16.04.220 Excess waste generator.

Repealed by Ord. 4695. (Ord. 3205 § 5 (part), 1990)

16.04.230 Extra unit of garbage.

“Extra unit of garbage” means an additional thirty-five-gallon can/cart/bag above a customer’s designated level of service. (Ord. 3963 § 5, 2004: Ord. 3826 § 1, 2002)

16.04.240 Administrative rulemaking.

Repealed by Ord. 4769. (Ord. 4477 § 8, 2015)

16.04.250 Compost products.

“Compost products” means mulch, soil amendments, ground cover, or other landscaping material derived from the biological or mechanical conversion of biosolids or cellulose-containing waste materials or as otherwise may be defined in RCW 43.19A.010. (Ord. 4841 § 2, 2023)