Recycling Facts for St. Paul

For over nine years Eureka Recycling, the City of St. Paul, and St. Paul residents have worked together towards zero waste (for years before that, it was the City and the Neighborhood Energy Consortium). Last year St. Paul residents recycled over 21,000 tons through the curbside and multifamily recycling programs. This saved the equivalent of 4 million gallons of gas - enough for 6,838 cars to drive for a year! And this is only one of the many daily choices that St. Paul residents are making to reduce their waste and protect the environment. Every time a resident rethinks a purchasing decision with waste reduction in mind (i.e., looking for less packaging, buying items used instead of new, etc.) or composts their food scraps at home instead of throwing them in the trash, they are reducing their own (and thus the City's) waste and energy use.

The neighborhood clean ups are another way residents help. Here are some highlights from last year's clean ups:

• The greenhouse gas emissions reduced by reusing and recycling city-wide in the Clean-up program is equivalent to saving 51,181 gallons of gasoline - enough to take 87 cars off the road for one year.
• 47% of materials brought to the Clean-ups were reused or recycled, which both reduced the cost of Clean-ups and created a positive environmental impact.
• The City saved $4000 due to the large amount of materials reused at the Clean-ups (an increase of 40% from the previous year).

And just so you know... The average vehicle at a St. Paul neighborhood Clean-up brings about 490 pounds to discard (47% of which was recycled or reused in 2009) and pays $16 to discard it.

Through the Clean-up program, this load costs $49 total (including the resident's $16 fee) to get rid of; if brought individually to a transfer station the average load would cost over $100 to discard. A savings to you, the city, and to the environment!!

Keep up the good work!!

Submitted by Eureka Recycling