Success Stories:
Travelers
Reduces Waste by 74,000 Pounds a Year
The
New Year is just around the corner, and most East Metro businesses are eligible
for grant money to fulfill their recycling resolutions. Big businesses, like
Travelers in Saint Paul, or small businesses can save money and improve the
environment by recycling. After completing a BizRecycling Program, Travelers
now saves over $18,000 every year in hauling fees! That’s over 74,000 pounds of
material that won’t end up in landfills. Big or small, businesses can make a
difference. Make recycling a New Year’s resolution in 2017. BizRecycling,
a program of the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Board, is here to help.
To learn more, visit LessTrash.com.
News You Can Use:
Free Collection Shed for Used Oil
Are you changing your own oil before it gets too cold? Ramsey County has a used oil and filter
collection shed that is free for county residents and open 24/7. Antifreeze is also accepted. The collection
shed is located on the north side of the Ramsey County Public Works facility at
1352 Ben Franklin Drive in Arden Hills.
For more information and where to bring other
hazardous waste, go to RamseyRecycles.com/householdhazardouswaste
or call 651-633-EASY (3279), answered 24/7.
Reduce
and Recycle at Your Holiday Gatherings
Setting up for recycling at your holiday gathering is easier
than you think. Simply label a container “Cans and Bottles” and set it next to
your trash. For large parties, check out temporary recycling containers from your
city or Ramsey County. Organics recycling containers are also available. To
learn more about this program, visit RamseyRecycles.com and click on
“Event Recycling” at the top or call 651-633-EASY (3279), answered 24/7.
Don’t forget to reduce waste during this season as well. Use washable dishware, and consider thoughtful,
long-lasting gifts and reusable party favors. And, if you are involved in an “ugly
sweater contest,” various thrift stores are a great place to shop!
Don't forget that six of the Ramsey County
yard waste sites are open on weekends during the winter, and three of them
accept trees and shrubs. So when you finally decide to take down the Christmas tree, visit
our A to Z Recycling and Disposal
Guide for more information.
Holiday Fix-It Clinics
Do you have a bent Christmas tree, a chipped snowflake
serving platter, or a radio that sounds like Vince Guaraldi under water? As you
prep for the holidays, consider skipping the trash and bring your broken
items to a Ramsey County Fix-It Clinic instead.
At Fix-It Clinics, residents bring in small household
appliances, electronics, and even clothing (singed fireplace stocking,
anyone?). Volunteer fixers (e.g. real-life MacGyvers) work with residents to
diagnose and repair each item free of charge. The best part? You’ll walk away
with a little more repair knowledge every time.
To learn more, visit RamseyRecycles.com.
In the meantime, we’ll see you (and your lop-sided Christmas
tree) at our next clinic!
Saturday, December 17
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
401 Concord St., Saint Paul
Cohosted with
Dakota County.
Ramsey and Washington
Counties Waste Designation Plan Approved
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recently approved a joint plan
submitted by Ramsey and Washington Counties that will allow for a more
stable, predictable trash processing system that can help better manage various
risks and control costs. This
plan will help guide the use of “waste designation.” Waste designation is
the term used in Minnesota law that allows the counties to enact an ordinance
that requires all or a portion of solid waste to be delivered to a designated
waste management facility. Sometimes
called “flow control,” waste designation can be put into place after a thorough
planning process that is approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
(MPCA). Designation relates to what happens to waste after it is collected – it does not affect who collects trash, or
when it is collected.
Ramsey and
Washington Counties have worked together to ensure that trash is well managed
in the East Metro area for nearly 30 years. The Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center (R&E Center), a
trash processing facility, has been a key element of the system, serving to
compliment aggressive recycling, composting and hazardous waste programs. Ramsey
and Washington Counties are working to find ways to create a modern trash
processing system that offers more stability and predictability, and ultimately
ensures greater control of our costs.
Designation gives the counties the legal authority to oversee where and
how that trash is processed and to ensure that it is done so in a way that
manages environmental and public health risks and avoids putting the costs and
risks of today’s waste management on future generations.
Did you know?
Ramsey
County’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program turns 25!
Since 1991 Ramsey County has collected
HHW from residents to protect human health and the environment. The program has
become well established since its first year when 928 residents dropped off
waste. Since that time, over half a million residents have dropped off over 25
million pounds of chemical waste. The program now averages over 25,000 visits a
year and keeps approximately 1.4 million pounds of hazardous waste out of the trash
annually. This is an important step in protecting our air and water.
The
most common materials dropped off are paint, used oil, and flammable solvents
such as paint thinner or mineral spirits. Materials collected from residents
are reused, recycled, burned for energy, or incinerated as directed by
Minnesota’s waste management hierarchy. The program now also features a Product Reuse
Center where residents can take products and use them up rather than
dispose of them as a waste.
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