Curbside Recycling Makes Debut in Minot, ND

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): A new curbside recycling program that has been dotting Minot neighborhoods with blue-lidded containers on collection days has saved 467.16 tons of material from landfill disposal between its launch in July and the end of November, according to City of Minot data. Recycling coordinator Christina Wolf said monthly tonnage has been increasing as residents have gained experience with the program. The participation rate is about 80%. The opportunity to opt out ended in October, which means any new residential customers must participate. “It’s actually gone a lot better than we anticipated. And we hope to continue that,” Wolf said.

One of the big concerns initially was that residents might place high levels of contaminants in their recycling. Items considered contaminants include improperly rinsed food containers or nonrecyclable materials. Wolf said the contamination rate within Minot collections has been 17%, although some materials would have been acceptable had they not become wet from the weather. Had the weather not played a role, the contamination rate would have been around 10%, she said.

“The national average would be about 20 to 30 percent contamination,” she said. “The company that did our capture rate said that they were actually surprised and were very happy with the way we are going about the recycling.” The biggest contaminants have been plastic bags and styrofoam. However, Christmas lights, clothing, a sled, hoses and wiring, insulin needles, oily pizza boxes, hangers and books, and even a knife and dead cat, have been among contaminants found in Minot’s recyclable collections.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com