Curbside Composting? More Plastics Recycled?

If you would like to see composting and adding more plastics recycling in the Mayor's Budget for 2013, read on...

Saint Paul has a new plan to recycle and compost 75% of all our waste. That's a 30% increase over what we recycle now.

This plan includes curbside composting collection, the addition of more types of plastics to the recycling program, prevention education and more.

Why should Saint Paul include the plan this year?

Ramsey County has already told the City that it will require the City to collect composting in 2015. But why wait?? Saint Paul citizens have been asking for this program since the Saint Paul Environmental Roundtable in 2005.

By adding food waste to the recycling program now, we can make other changes at the same time that allow us to start picking up some of those pesky plastics that plague us!

How? We can make all these changes at once by changing to a simpler single sorting system for recycling. This makes it possible to replace the aging recycling fleet (with cleaner-fueled trucks) to collect both recycling and composting on the same truck in two separate compartments, so we don't have to add more trucks to the streets to collect more. This reduces emissions, saves wear and tear on the roads and saves everyone money.

What does it cost? Good question. The plan will cost $1.90 per household per month, significantly less than other programs in the U.S. But the great news is that after you reduce your garbage and your garbage service level, you can actually save money. Families can save an average of $2.50 per month. That's really a savings of $7.20 per year (($2.50 - $1.90) x 12).

By extending its contract with Eureka, the City of Saint Paul can add these materials and save money! By using its ability to provide contract extensions, as it's done before for Eureka and its other partners/vendors, the City taps Eureka's capacity to finance the capital investment needed for this program (such as carts and equipment) so the City doesn't have to. This saves the city millions of dollars. This plan would extend Eureka's contract just 8 years, from 2016 to 2024.

Through its partnership with community-based nonprofit Eureka, the City has received over $3.3 million from the sales of recyclables, works with the only non-governmental recycler in the state that has union recycling drivers, and benefits from the reinvestment of all of Eureka's proceeds in the community.

Saint Paul Mayor Coleman needs to know you support this plan... before he releases his draft budget on Monday August 13. You can call the Mayor's office at 651.266.8510 or send an email to him

Submitted by Eureka Recycling...