The Seattle area developed into a technology center from the 1980s onward, with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region Microsoft founder Bill Gates is a Seattleite by birth. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Seattle currently has high populations of Native Americans alongside Americans with strong Asian, African, European, and Scandinavian ancestry, and hosts the fifth-largest LGBT community in the U.S. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay in 1852 and named 'Seattle' in honor of Chief Seattle, a prominent 19th-century leader of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon, on the schooner Exact at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The Seattle area has been inhabited by Native Americans (such as the Duwamish, who had at least 17 villages around Elliot Bay) for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. A major gateway for trade with East Asia, the Port of Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2021.

It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian border. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 20 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-largest in the United States. With a 2022 population of 749,256 it is the most populous city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America, and the 18th most populous city in the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. During construction of the facility, the existing transfer station and household hazardous waste collection operations were maintained to ensure continuous service for customers.Seattle ( / s i ˈ æ t əl/ ⓘ see- AT-əl) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States.Three underground water tanks collect rainwater for reuse, reducing potable water use by 59% over traditional design.

Sustainable design features include skylights and translucent wall panels allow natural light into the building as well as rainwater harvesting, recycled-content building materials, locally sourced building materials, and 50,000 drought-tolerant, native plants.On weekends, operations may be orientated to better serving customers by using the commercial tipping area. The tipping floor has 11 self-haul unloading stalls during the week. Five large doors allow traffic flow and direction to be flexible, and extra electrical hookups allow King County to incorporate new equipment into future operations.

Nearly the entire operation of the transfer station is flexible.An area separate from commercial traffic for self-haul customers to unload their waste, drop off recyclables, and safely dispose of household hazardous waste, floor sorting and materials diversion.An enclosed solid waste transfer and processing area, administration area, fueling facility, maintenance shop, a new household hazardous waste facility, recycling areas and a hot load area.Key features of Factoria Recycling and Transfer Station include: Our team worked side-by-side with King County to provide a comprehensive solution including environmental, permitting, architectural and engineering design, public involvement and construction-related services. The new station - designed for LEED Gold certification - uses 40% less energy than comparable facilities, reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 172.5 metric tons per year, saves 1.3 million gallons of potable water annually and diverted 95% of construction waste from the landfill. We designed the 80,000-square-foot transfer station to reduce environmental impacts, improve customer service and introduce additional recycling and disposal options. The state-of-the-art facility will divert 5,000 tons of waste from the landfill. New facility downsizes environmental impacts and upgrades customer service.įactoria Recycling and Transfer Station is capable of handling 225,000 tons of garbage, recycling, yard waste and household hazardous waste annually.

King county transfer station