The Olmsted County Free Fair runs July 23 - July 29, 2018. As in past years, the Environmental Resources Department will host an educational booth in the Conservation Building throughout the week. The Conservation Building is located in the northeast corner of the fairgrounds at the intersection of 14th St SW and Fairgrounds Ave SE.
In addition to educational booths, the building will host a variety of stage presentations. A representative from our department will give a presentation on garbage and recycling this Thursday, July 26th at 6:00 PM and Saturday, July 28th at 2:00 PM. Time will be set aside for questions.
Conservation Building Stage Programs
Tuesday, July 24
4:00 PM: Save our Stream Water Monitoring Program – Izsak Walton League
6:00 PM: Animal/Reptile of
the Day – Olmsted County
Parks
......................................................................................................................................................
Wednesday, July 25
Noon: Emerald Ash Borer – Rochester
Park & Recreation
2:00 PM: Lake Zumbro Dredging and
Restoration – What’s Going on? WHKS
4:00 PM: Soil Health – Soil and Water Conservation District
6:00 PM: Your Urban Forest and How to Take Care of it –
RNeighborWoods
......................................................................................................................................................
Thursday, July 26
1:00 PM: Snake Presentation – Quarry Hill
3:00 PM: Alternative
Landscapes Lawn & Garden Management for Water Quality – City
Public Works
4:00 PM: From Buckthorn to Burning; Caring
for Your Woods – MN DNR Forestry
6:00 PM: Talking Trash &
Recycling – Olmsted County Environmental Resources
......................................................................................................................................................
Friday, July 27
All Day Display - Whitewater Watershed Lego Model
Noon: Meet MPCA/ What is a Watershed – MN
Pollution Control Agency How’s the water;
Fish, Bugs & Nitrogen – MN Pollution Control Agency Using GIS Technology
in Watershed Science – MN Pollution Control Agency
2:00 PM: Rattlesnake
Presentation –
Whitewater State Park
6:00 PM: Soil Health More than Just Dirt
– Soil and Water Conservation District
......................................................................................................................................................
Saturday, July 28
All Day Displays I Dig Healthy Soils
– Market Science Whitewater Watershed
Lego Model
Noon: Be A Citizen
Scientist – Citizen Stream Monitoring – Soil
and Water Conservation District
2:00 PM: Talking Trash &
Recycling – Olmsted County Environmental Resources
6:00 - 8:00 PM: Musical Folk Group Entertainment -
Vaguely Non-committals
In July of 2017, the Chinese government notified the World Trade Organization of its plan to ban the import of 24 types of solid waste (various recyclables) beginning in 2018 (additional items were added to the ban this past April). This decision came as part of a concerted effort to improve human health and environmental quality in a country that had been accepting contaminated shipments of mixed paper, assorted plastics, scrap metal, etc. to meet the demands of a growing economy.
|
According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Chinese imported 55% of global recovered paper and fiber as well 51% of global plastic scrap in 2016 (source: UN Comtrade Database). This insatiable appetite for scrap materials led to a global reliance on China's ability to accept materials. With import bans now in place, recyclers around the world are scrambling to find alternative markets.
Recyclers of mixed paper (newsprint, magazines, cereal boxes, assorted mail) and plastics are experiencing major backlogs, particularly on the West Coast. In many cases, there is no outlet for these materials; they are either being stockpiled indefinitely or landfilled.
So what does this all mean for residents of Southeastern Minnesota and beyond? It means recycling correctly has become more important than ever. People often equate recycling with environmental health. And while recycling (the correct items) is a valuable method of preventing waste, people have a tendency to "wish-cycle"—throw an item they're unsure of into their recycling bin hoping that a sorting facility will be able to recycle it.
Residents with curbside collection should check with their waste hauler to see what items are accepted in their recycling bin. Certain items are almost always accepted through a curbside hauler—reference the "What Can I Recycle" poster below.
Those who self-haul garbage and recyclables to the Olmsted County Recycling Center Plus can review a list of acceptable presorted recyclables. In addition, the Waste Wizard contains disposal instructions for over 500 types of waste.
Through the Environmental Achievement Awards, community members, businesses, and organizations are recognized for making Olmsted County a more sustainable community.
The goal of the awards program is to promote innovative approaches to environmental challenges, encourage environmental thinking in business and farm decision making, and develop an environmental and conservation ethic in Olmsted County.
Olmsted County and Rochester Public Utilities are seeking nominations for following categories:
- Climate Change
- Conservation
- Education
- Energy
- Renewables
- Sustainable Food Production
- Water
- Other
To nominate an organization or individual, complete a nomination form and email it to Anthony Wittmer by Friday, October 5, 2018. To see a listing of last year's award recipients, visit our website.
2017 Environmental Achievement Award winners and nominators; photo credit: Josh Banks of BanksPhotos.com
Call2Recycle Inc. has once again recognized the Olmsted County Hazardous Waste Facility (HWF) as a leader in sustainability for its efforts in battery recycling. This is the HWF's 6th award since a relationship was established in 2000!
In 2017, approximately 18,700 lbs. of batteries were brought to the HWF for recycling. This total includes around 4,600 lbs. of rechargeable batteries recycled through Call2Recyle and roughly 14,100 lbs. of lead-acid batteries, which were recycled through a separate company.
The most common types of batteries brought to the HWF include lead-acid, lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium, nickel metal hydride, and small sealed lead-acid. They are used in a wide range of consumer products including automobiles, cordless hand-tools, and remote controls to name a few.
Batteries collected through the Call2Recycle program are secured for shipping, sorted by chemistry at a regional facility, and eventually melted to recover the valuable metals (lead, nickel, iron, cadmium, etc.) which can be used to make new batteries, stainless steel products, and cement additives.
By bringing your rechargeable batteries to the Olmsted County Hazardous Waste Facility, you protect your family, our waste-disposal facilities, and the environment from potential harm. Do not throw rechargeable batteries in your garbage or recycling container (single-use alkaline batteries can be thrown in the trash).
To see how Call2Recycle recycles batteries, watch their educational video.
|
Hazardous Waste Facility staff pictured from left to right: Darin Green, Joseph Martini, Marcel Popescu, Dave Vail; photo by Anthony Wittmer
With recycling markets tightening, it's more important than ever that the corrugated cardboard brought to the Olmsted County Recycling Center Plus (OCRC) is free of contaminants.
By weight, the OCRC receives more corrugated cardboard than aluminum & steel cans, plastics, and glass combined—in 2017, nearly 700 tons were recycled.!
The vast majority of residents who self-haul recyclables to the OCRC do a great job of making sure their items are free of contaminants. However, there are a few tricky items that seem like they should be recyclable but are not. We CANNOT accept the following items mixed with clean corrugated cardboard:
-
Greasy/Food Stained Cardboard - The grease shows up in the recycled box; box manufacturers don't like this.
-
Egg Cartons - The tiny plant fibers that comprise egg cartons are relatively weak (compared to the fibers of a corrugated box) and do not add value to our end market's product.
-
Cores/Mailing Tubes - These are rigid and are hard to break down.
-
Freezer Meal Boxes & Beer/Pop Boxes - Similar to egg cartons, the fibers that comprise these items just don't provide the strength that our end market is looking for.
|
|
|