South Transfer Station

I usually limit my reviews to rewarding or otherwise experiences I have at certain businesses…. I really enjoy going to the city dump, you meet the most interesting people. And the ambience and Aroma is to die for….. they could live in things up by having special occasions like ladies night or all you can dump for free….. just a suggestion

I brought a load of cedar fencing to put into the clean green compost area. It had no nails and no finish, so I thought it would be no problem. WRONG. They directed it to garbage because someone tagged initials with spray paint affecting about 5 boards out of a truck load. Okay, fine. But when I looked in the clean green, it was full of pallets with paint and nails. What? This is a fine example of bureaucracy double standards, when the left hand doesn't know right hand is doing. Is it any wonder that illegal dumping is so popular? I discovered Bow Lake transfer station while the South Seattle transfer station was closed in August. It is so much better operated, and open 24 hours a day on weekdays. I am done using the South Station with their bureau-clowns.

Usually an easy drop off and go spot, this time without warning they close down the line for 45 minutes. All that’s needed is a heads up and a chance to turn around before that happens.

Harassment is tolerated at this station. I come here once a month to dump cardboard for my job. All the employees are fantastic, except for one person, who harasses me every time I come. If it was just a one time thing, I’d say he was just having a bad day, but it’s EVERY time. He makes me move my vehicle to ‘adjust’ it a few feet. He’s rude when talking to me. He changes the rules about what I can dump and what I can’t. He’s asked me to take cardboard out of the station with me. He stands at the back of my vehicle, right at the bumper, and micromanages how I unload. He likes to move right in front of me when I have my arms full and forces me to stand there and ask him to move out of my way. This has been happening for months. And until the companies harassment polices improve, I’ll be back here with another one star review until this guy is checked. Calling him out: male, Asian gentleman, maybe in his 50s, walks with a golf club as a cane.

Quite possibly one of the most inefficiently ran transfer stations I’ve ever been to and I used to work in the household hazardous waste and oil spill response field. I waited for a half hour just to get from the street into the perimeter of the facility - with at least another hour or two wait to even have my vehicle be weighed in order to enter the facility. I don’t know what planet that is acceptable on, but this one isn’t it.

Viewing room is open 10a to 3p, for all those with garbage truck loving toddlers

I'm not sure who bothers to review the dump / transfer station but I'll give it a try. This is a transfer station where refuse etc is collected and then later trucked to the king county landfill out by Maple Valley. Stuff is sorted for recycling etc by you, the person dropping off. You drive through a booth where you're weight is taken, then drive into the big building, unload, then drive back out through a weight booth to pay. They take tires and appliances. There is a hazmat drop off accross the street but it does not have the same hours, check first. Easy location to use, new residents to the region may want to Google map WITH SATELLITE view to see where to go. The cluster F of the Hobart / First Ave South Bridge / 99 / 599 / West and East Marginal / Michigan St interchange can confuse even locals.

Super friendly and helpful staff and easy drop-off process!

Great dump! Fair prices, excellent staff, well organized. Easy to get in and out of. They do charge for all appliances, FYI

I came to dumping lots of stuff sometime and paying a lots here. But large facilities and good simple services, always busy but smooth access. Just dumped, dumped, dumped and paying more money. I wish I can donated my stuff here. Only I cannot standing in the stinky smells. So bad odors. A foul odor that passes through the mask. There need for air filters!!! It will be killer!!! I appreciate their workers. I will coming back another dumping again.

A CATHEDRAL OF WASTE AND RENEWAL. This highly efficient operation features a massive structure with what must be a 100' high ceiling. The interior is bathed in natural light thanks to the multitude of translucent panels. There is no charge for recycling, cardboard, aluminum or steel. ordinary garbage is charged by weight. Since we recently bought a new house, we tend to amass much more cardboard from shipped items that will fit in our blue recycle container. So, I cut up all the cardboard boxes so they are flat. I Load them into the SUV, and off I go to The Transfer Station! Yes, this is what it is called on Google Maps. This one is the South Transfer Station, which, I don't understand. There is another one further south near Seatac called the Bow Lake Recycling & Transfer Station. Go figure. Anyway you drive in and get in line (There hardly ever is one) behind any trucks or cars in front of you. You pull up to boom gate. Wait for the light to turn green and the boom to go up. You THEN drive onto a massive scale capable of accommodating a large truck. Pull up to the window, where you are met by the attendant . Explain that you have recycle only, and they will not weigh your vehicle and will hand you a slip with bar code on it. Now the fun begins!. You drive up to the entrance of the facility, where you are met by an employee in a hard hat. Tell them "I have cardboard" (Or whatever it is you have) and they will direct you to the appropriate pile or in the case of cardboard, the compactor. Pull up to the compactor. Marvel at the massive cathedral like facility, open your trunk and start throwing your flattened cardboard into the hopper. If the hopper is too full, you can turn the little key on the control panel to the right, and the hopper will compress whatever is in there. Then drive out of the facility to the exit gate. Just like entering, there is a boom gate, and a traffic type light. After the boom goes up, drive up to the booth and hand the attendant your slip. Sometimes there is a friendly old man there who, on hot days will hand you a frozen treat. Sometimes, if you're lucky, he will get his 5 iron and try to hit a plastic golf ball out his window, and into your car! What fun! So, if you have too much recycling to fit in your container, or just want to check the place out, try the South Transfer Station! Oh and umm, One more thing. Your car will pick up the smell of the transfer station, but don't worry, it will dissipate in a few hours, just keep your windows open :) BTW, if you enjoyed my review or found it useful funny or cool, please don't hesitate to click the little button to say so, or better yet, go ahead and friend me! I Just moved to the Seattle area last October, and need all the friends I can get. So go ahead, press that button, and never miss a single one of my epic reviews in the Seattle area and beyond. Excelsior!

woHo! The new transfer station has opened. The old station was one of the most modern I've taken a dump run to, so not sure the reason for the new station. Must be part of that ungodly high property tax bill I pay biannually. The experience at the new station is a little less exciting than the old. Reason being the big 'ole pit you got the chuck your stuff into is gone. Now you shove your trash into a ground-level area ... boring! Very helpful staff. Twice a couple guys came over to help me hoist junk out of my bed. Might of been because it looked like I was dropping off a body and they wanted to make sure my detritus was legit.

Seattle, WA South Seattle Recycling I brought an old mattress and box spring to this location and it cost $30. I feel that was a fair price. There was only a few vehicles in front of me however it did not feel like a long delay at all. I would recommend this recycle center because it was fast and easy to dispose of unwanted items.

As a place to take your garbage, it's ok. The reason I say it's only ok is that the wait to get in is often long, even for dropping off recycling. The north Seattle transfer station is much better. The observation room is much inferior to the north transfer station. There are no toys for your kids to play with. Not one, besides the ones bolted to the demonstration table and trash can. Not worth bringing a young kid here.

I remember the old transfer station. It used to be free and open 24 hours a day. I loved going there at 2am. There was a big pit you could thorw your stuff into, fun. You didn't have to step on somebody elses garbage or muck. The new place,,, I've waited an hour in line. The floor is a 1/2" of who knows what kind of muck. Gross!!! AND the fees are insane. No wonder I'm seeing so much junk and mattresses on the roadside. Typical Seattle progress. Backwards.

I'm a home owner in South Seattle and use this transfer station to drop off yard waste, junk from my house like an old couch, and card board boxes. The facility is organized and clean. The people that work here are great! They're very nice and keep customers organized.

Efficient. Friendly. I'm usually in and out in under twenty minutes. Also normal recyclables are free.

This place is a dump, but the people are really nice. The guy at the entrance was very friendly and informed me that there would be no discount just because I'm pretty. I was flattered but a little disappointed that my rugged good looks didn't get me my usual discount. I drove into the hangar-like building and a friendly guy directed me to the garbage heap. I backed up to the pile of trash and got to work. I got a little queasy from the smell but I was able to quickly toss the items onto the pile and get out before I lost my breakfast. The checkout process was simple. The $30 minimum chafed a little but I recognize that handling my garbage is not cheap and I'd rather pay it when I need it than pay higher taxes.

Preface: I am not a girly girl. I like sports, I swear like a sailor, I own far more sneakers than I do heels, rarely - if ever - suppress a belch etc... I AM A GIRL however. When it comes right down to it, I have a vagina and all the other related parts. These parts are inflamed by certain things - Examples: cute little animals, hot shoes on the happy side; scary movies, bad smells and giant rodents indoors on the yucky side. _________________________________________ I had some shit I needed to get rid of: my old mattress (that has been replaced by a king-sized fluffy cloud of pure love) and a dilapidated dresser that NEVER SHOULD HAVE ENTERED MY BRAND NEW HOUSE IN THE FIRST PLACE (but that is another story and will not be told - because I am A ZEN BITCH AND I LET SHIT GO). Being the super-human freak that I am, I was going to drag, toss, muscle all this stuff to the dump by my lonesome (because this Zen bitch DOESN'T NEED ANYONE ......mmph...). But then the SUPER FUCKING COOL Patrick G. asked what I was up to and totally volunteered to help a girl out since his lovely wife was stuck working all day and because he is the big brother I never (always) wanted. We make our way there via my totally amazing and borderline psychic sense of direction (Google and Yahoo maps both had me getting there via Baja) and pull up to the railing that divides the actual pit of smelly dispair that is the dump from the rest of building. The ground is covered in a slimy, stinky glaze of horrific nastiness. The girl parts are HUGELY INFLAMED. ME: Oh my god!!!! It reeks like Folsom street after the Up Your Alley festival!!! ASS!! DIRTY!!! DIRTY!!! My feet are touching the DIRTY!!! Patrick: (all super fucking mellow) - God, it is a dump man. ME: MY FEET ARE GOING TO REEK FOREVER!!!!!! THESE SNEAKERS WILL HAVE TO BE BURNED!!!!!! Patrick: Hey man - is that an English Muffin? ME: *VOMITS while dancing around in effort to keep my feet from touching the ground for too long* Patrick: Gross man. ME: YUCKY!!!! DIRTY!!!!! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!!! CUT OFF MY FEET!!!!!! Patrick: Hey man! Is that Dylan's new song? I love Dylan. ME: *VOMITS* Jesus! DYLAN on the radio on top OF EVERYTHING ELSE! FUCKING KILL ME. The world starts to close in on me, I am certain that a smelly, dying goo is creeping up my legs, the smell of a large, gaping, monkey anus will not leave my nostrils. I pull out my super fucking awesome Knelow pocket perfume and cover my upper lip in the sweet smell of candy hippy. The Dylan song ends. We drive away from the dump. I breathe deeply. Testosterone levels begin to return to their normal levels. It's going to be ok. ___________________________ Epilogue: I am a pussy little girly bitch. Super.

Sometimes the garbage man just ain't enough. I mean, you like him, he's sometimes kinda cute and well, I don't really MEAN to have on a towel standing there dragging out the rest of the garbage, do I? Maybe I do. But when that's not enough, like you've realized you've been collecting all this crap that won't go anywhere but to the dump, you have to take it there. When you arrive, they're pleasant, and tell you where you can dump it. And it's not too expensive. But for the love of god it's hard to find. Take a map and a shaman and you might be able to navigate yourself there.

I never would have thought my second Yelp review would be for the dump, but I had an experience here today that compelled me to Yelp. I just started a new job for a local startup company and had to run a huge truckload of paint cans to the dump. The paint was supposed to treated but there was a mix up and some of the paint was not solid. This wound up being a HUGE mess in the back of the work truck, never mind the fact you can't dispose of wet paint. One of the employees came over to my truck and asked me whether the paint was still liquid. I sheepishly apologized, explaining my situation and trying to deal with the enormous mess. He pulled out a screwdriver and started helping me check to see which paint cans were treated and which were still liquid. Partway through the process, I cut my finger pretty badly on a rusty can. He sent me up to the employee bathroom so I could get cleaned up. When I finished and exited the bathroom, a woman was waiting on me. She said she was just there to "check on me" and make sure I was ok. She then took me to their conference room so I could clean and bandage my hand up. On my way back, a few employees asked if I was ok. Everyone was so kind and warm. It was really lovely. When I got back to the truck, the man who came over to help me had finished separating disposable paint from the liquid. He helped me drag the last bit of heavy garbage out of the truck. I almost didn't care that my jeans and boots were ruined, I was honestly so touched by the kindness and warmth of everyone working here. Even on the way out I was impressed. I was sent off with a compliment and an Otter pop. What a truly kind, sweet bunch of people working here. Made a sorta stressful day much nicer.

Yeah, it was smelly and we had to dodge a few trash trucks, but we no longer have to walk over a 4 foot tall stack of cardboard when we walk into our house. And dropping off recycling is free! The place wasn't too difficult to find. We used our GPS and then followed the signs to the disposal station. I was a bit worried we were in the wrong place when we saw all of the garbage trucks. The guy at the entrance was really friendly - I think he flirted with me?!?! I liked it. He gave us some vague instructions of where to go and waved us on. The cardboard recycling box is at the end of the "barn(?)". It was a bit tricky getting through the barn because there were multiple trash trucks backing into spots to dump trash. Luckily we didn't get hit. Easy (and smelly) as that.

I don't know what it is about this place, but the people who work there seem to genuinely love their jobs. I recently had to visit this location five times during the course of one weekend while cleaning out my back yard, and everyone I had to deal with - from the booth attendants to the people directing traffic and cleaning inside of the disposal area - were all super-friendly and approachable, and some were even funny! Going to the "dump" is rarely a pleasant experience, but the folks that work at the South Seattle station make it a trip I actually look forward to!

The new dump is great..I dump there often..great staff very helpful signage is good aswell as numbered bays to dump...its fairly quick ...in & out

Great place. The people are super friendly and I genuinely leave feeling better than when I got there. Whoever is managing this place- keep it up.