Kent residents can drop off garbage July 16-18 at ShoWare Center | Update

Published 2:05 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Kent single-family residential customers, whose waste collections were missed due to an ongoing out-of-market labor dispute, will be able to take bagged garbage and drop it off for free at the accesso ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St.

Residents can drop off garbage from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 through Friday, July 18, according to an agreement between the city of Kent and Republic Services. Bulky waste will not be accepted.

City staff released a statement Tuesday afternoon about the work stoppage.

“An ongoing labor dispute in Boston between Republic Services and the Teamsters union is impacting Kent residents and businesses, with missed collections of garbage and recycling,” according to the statement. “Garbage has not been picked-up within the city since Wednesday, July 9.

“The contract between Kent and Republic Services includes a provision allowing the city to assess fines for missed collections. The city strongly encourages Republic Services and the Teamster union to negotiate in good faith and reach a settlement as soon as possible.”

If a settlement is not reached in the coming days, city staff will talk with Republic Services about continuing a drop-off location for residential customers, according to the statement.

Drivers in Kent are supporting striking workers in Thurston County and in other states. A couple of dozen cities in King and and Snohomish counties contract with Republic Services. According to a Teamsters Local 252 press release out of Lacey, that local went on strike July 9 at a transfer facility to protest unfair labor practices at Republic Services.

Tuesday, July 15 marked the fifth day of the work stoppage and collection services by Republic Services in Kent.

More than 2,000 Teamsters at Republic Services are currently on strike or actively honoring picket lines nationwide, according to a Tuesday, July 15 social media post by the Teamsters national office in Washington, D.C. Striking Teamsters extended picket lines this week to Los Angeles and a major landfill in Ohio.

The strike forced by Republic Services will now impact over two million Los Angeles residents, according to Teamsters. In Youngstown, Ohio, trucks and trains carrying 12 million pounds of trash per day from New York City and New Jersey will be unable to unload at one of the nation’s largest landfills.

“It’s shocking, and increasingly disgusting, how far Republic Services is willing to push its workforce,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Our members are everyday Americans performing essential services across our communities, but Republic is unwilling to offer workers good wages, decent benefits, or a fair contract. The American public needs to understand that Republic Services and its overpaid, corrupt executives own this strike. Their greed is forcing trash collectors and waste haulers across the country out into the street. We don’t want this garbage piling up. We want to return to work. But we refuse to be exploited.”