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Your Homemade Explosives Are Not Recyclable

Seattle is a green city. We love our bike lanes, our urban chickens, and our bi-weekly ritual of recycling bin Tetris. And while most Seattle residents are well-versed in the fine art of recycling— 407,000 tons recycled in 2013!—there are apparently some in our fair city who need a reminder on what should and should not go in their Big Blue Bin.

Here are several items which should not be placed in your recycling bin: VHS tapes, un-rinsed cans and homemade explosives.

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This reminder comes after employees at a recycling facility in the SODO neighborhood called police this morning after discovering someone had tried to recycle a cardboard box packed with a homemade explosive.

Patrol officers arrived at the recycling facility in the 700 block of S. Idaho St., evacuated the building, and called for SPD Arson/Bomb Squad detectives. Detectives dismantled and disposed of the homemade explosive, which was constructed out of fireworks.

If you or someone you know has leftover explosives, ammunition or firearms in need of proper disposal, please call SPD’s non-emergency line at (206) 625-5011.

Photo courtesy Seattle Public Utilities