County forces DTG Recycle’s Maltby facility to scale back

MALTBY — DTG Recycle was forced to immediately scale back operations at its facility near Maltby, under a Snohomish County hearing examiner ruling issued late last month.

For months, neighbors of DTG’s site at 18827 Yew Way reported issues with noise, dust and traffic, as tub grinders chopped up woody debris. Now the company that recycles materials for commercial, industrial and construction clients throughout Western Washington can only accept mineral and wood waste on specific parcels at its Maltby location.

DTG did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Last year, DTG acquired the Yew Way site from United Recycling, and along with it, a history of violations.

County code enforcement had previously found United Recycling in violation of constructing and occupying buildings without proper permits. United Recycling appealed the findings, arguing the company sought permits from the county, but the county refused its requests.

When DTG took over, the company accepted the violations that workers constructed buildings without following county protocol. But DTG appealed allegations that operations at the Yew Way site were not allowed in an R-5 zone, or a “rural 5-acre” area. The site has been zoned that way since 1966.

County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp denied DTG’s appeal in May.

He noted operations exploded over the past two decades at the site, long before DTG took over. In 2022, the facility — then owned by United Recycling — processed over 240,000 tons of mixed waste, according to an annual report submitted to the state Department of Ecology. This was 13 times the amount site owners told the county they would process in 1999.

And incoming material “included much more than construction and demolition debris,” Camp wrote in his decision. Ferrous metals, tires and comingled recyclables were among products dumped at the site.

Camp also referenced neighbors’ observations that noise and dust from the facility became more of an issue when DTG took over last year.

Lisa Jansson and her husband own a 5-acre property adjacent to DTG’s facility. She told the hearing examiner she wears hearing protection if she spends more than an hour outside. Using a noise meter, Jansson found sound levels reached 65 to 70 decibels. Inside her home, noise dropped to about 40 decibels, but she still compared it to a dishwasher that can never be turned off.

Camp required the company to halt recycling operations by July 15 and remove stockpiles of materials by spring 2026. Under this decision, the county would have prevented DTG from accepting any materials at the site, effectively shutting down the recycling facility.

At the end of May, DTG requested the hearing examiner reconsider his decision, eliminating the company’s initial deadlines.

On Aug. 30, Camp again affirmed all of DTG’s violations but extended the company’s deadlines to reach compliance with county code.

“This decision balances the impact of noncompliance on the community with the practical constraints of obtaining permits and performing remedial work,” Camp wrote. “Discontinuance of frequent noisy activity as soon as feasible is more important to the community than one-time removal of concrete.”

DTG must remove or submit permits for several unpermitted buildings by winter. The company also has two years to remove equipment and stockpiles of materials.

County staff try to work with businesses to help them align with county code — allowing companies to continue operating while applying for the proper permits.

For this reason, county code enforcement may extend compliance dates if DTG “demonstrates substantial progress toward compliance,” according to Camp’s ruling.

Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; X: @TaLeahRoseV.