Post Falls Man Launches Mobile Recycling Pickup Service in Kootenai County

Doug Cannon's garage told the whole story. Stacked with Costco boxes, Amazon deliveries, and bags of plastic, the Post Falls home had become an accidental recycling depot, and it gave Cannon the idea to turn a personal problem into a business.

WECYCLE IT, described as one of a kind in Kootenai County, launched in January 2026 as a mobile, door-to-door recycling pickup service built around a straightforward premise: most households accumulate recyclables they cannot easily move, and the county's transfer stations, while capable, require residents to do all the hauling themselves.

"We started the business in January," Cannon said. "The garage at our home in Post Falls was full of plastic bags and moving boxes: Costco boxes and Amazon boxes."

The service collects large cardboard bundles, batteries, electronics, and household appliances, categories that regularly fall through the gaps of standard curbside recycling programs. Rather than asking customers to break down boxes or schedule a trip to a transfer station, WECYCLE IT picks up materials directly from the home and routes them to the appropriate recycling or disposal outlets.

The gap Cannon is attempting to fill is real. Kootenai County Solid Waste accepts a wide range of materials, but the burden of transport falls entirely on the resident. For elderly, disabled, or time-constrained households, that barrier is often enough to send recyclable electronics, old car batteries, and bulky cardboard straight to the trash.

Cannon has set his sights on routes across Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, and surrounding communities as WECYCLE IT scales to meet demand. The model is a private-sector answer to a logistics problem that municipal programs have not fully solved: getting hard-to-recycle items out of homes without requiring residents to become their own freight handlers.

If WECYCLE IT gains traction, the ripple effects could extend beyond individual households. Small retailers, property managers, and businesses generating consistent cardboard or electronics waste are natural candidates for a mobile pickup model. A growing private recycling logistics presence in North Idaho could also reduce the volume of materials arriving at county transfer stations, easing pressure on public infrastructure.

For now, Cannon is three months into building something Kootenai County has not had before.