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In recycling, Minnesota is near the top of the heap
A survey ranks the state second in the nation for recycling.
Dee DePass, Star Tribune

May 19, 2006 – 10:59 PM


When it comes to recycling, Minnesota has the right to talk trash.

The state was ranked the second-best in the nation for recycling in a national survey released this week.

The "State of Garbage in America Report," produced by BioCycle magazine and Columbia University's Earth Engineering Center, found that Minnesota recycles 43 percent of its trash, second only to Oregon, which turns about 45 percent of its garbage into new treasures.

With help from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Office of Environmental Assistance, the report found that Minnesota ranks ninth in the nation for the number of pounds of recycled waste it exports. Minnesota also has the third-largest curbside recycling program, behind New York with 1,500 and Pennsylvania with 974.

Minnesota has 730 curbside plans, giving 75 percent of its residents easy access to recycling.

Some communities have gone one better. St. Paul recently boosted its curbside service from bimonthly to weekly and began picking up plastic bottles and jugs. Hutchinson and Wayzata are experimenting with collecting food waste at curbside for making into compost.

Businesses, already doing their part, might have an opportunity to do more if the Legislature passes a bill to mandate electronics recycling. Paul Gardner, executive director of the Recycling Association of Minnesota, expects small businesses will arise to mine the lead, mercury, copper, steel and plastic from trashed computers, cell phones and radios if the bill is passed.

It won't be the first time that changes in the law have encouraged businesses to recycle.

Minnesota's Solid Waste Management Tax "makes garbage more expensive and recycling more financially attractive," Gardner said. Minnesota businesses "save millions by recycling," he said.

Businesses also are increasingly involved in programs to eliminate solvents, new paper and unnecessary packaging. According to the Office of Environmental Assistance, industrial recycling efforts have created 9,000 jobs and injected about $2.9 billion into Minnesota's economy.

Dee DePass