Seasons
Fall 2013
The Greening of Maplewood
The Story of Stuff By Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner
Once we own stuff, it will eventually need to be discarded. Most of that stuff gets thrown away – on average Americans throw away 4.40 pounds of trash a day.* But is it really away? It might be away from you, but there is still a long process to ensure it is disposed of properly. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency did a study in 2008 to determine where all of our discarded stuff goes. In the Twin Cities, 28% ends up in landfills, 28% is converted to energy, and 44% percent is recycled (including recyclables and yard waste). Since Maplewood organized its trash hauling in 2012, all of our residential trash is kept out of landfills and diverted to the RamseyWashington Resource Recovery Facility in Newport. There the trash is sorted and recyclables are extracted. The rest is converted to refuse-derived fuel, which is used to create electricity. According to Maplewood’s June 2013 trash and recycling reports, 69% of Maplewood’s solid waste was converted to energy. The rest, 31%, consisted of recyclables and yard waste. Recyclables collected in Maplewood’s residential recycling
program are baled and sold to manufacturers who use the recyclables to make new products. Yard waste is collected curbside and brought to a site for processing into compost, which is used on lawns and gardens throughout the Twin Cities. This data demonstrates that there is plenty of opportunity for material recovery prior to disposal. One opportunity for material recovery is removing bulky items from the trash. Bulky items include such things as carpet, furniture, mattresses, tires, appliances, and electronics. These items are often reusable or recyclable. Furniture in good condition can be reused. Appliances and electronics are taken apart and many of the components can be recycled. Maplewood has been collecting bulky items during its annual Spring and Fall Clean Up events for years. Since 2010, Maplewood’s clean up events were attended by an average of 295 vehicles per event. Materials collected included an average of 94 appliances, 52 mattresses, 19.49 tons of construction debris, 31 tires, and 12,401 pounds of electronic waste per event. During the events the City made an effort to reuse or recycle as much of the stuff as possible - donating furniture and bicycles and recycling mattresses.
Did you know there is another more convenient method of disposing of bulky items? Just call the City’s contracted trash hauler, Allied Waste Services. The contract with Allied includes pricing for curbside bulky item pick up ranging from $5 to $30, depending on the item. Instead of our annual Fall Clean Up event this year, Maplewood will be sponsoring a Fall Clean Up Campaign where all bulky items will be picked up curbside by Allied for half price! (See page 2 for more details.) The next time you have some stuff to get rid of, give some thought into whether it can be reused or recycled, and where that stuff will end up once it is away from you. To find out more about reusing and recycling, refer to the articles on page 3. *U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm)
Maplewood Fall Clean Up Campaign – 2nd and 3rd Week in October Receive 50% off all bulky items collected curbside through Maplewood’s residential trash program during the 2nd and 3rd weeks in October. Call Allied Waste Services at 651.455.8634 to schedule your bulky item pick up. See page 2 for more details.
Examples of Bulky Items Collected Curbside
Old BBQ Grill
Old Mattresses
Old Appliances
Old Tires