Plastic Recycling in St. Paul
In part four of her series on plastics, Julie Borgerding July fills us in on where we can recycle different types of plastics in our own backyard.
Plastic manufacturers have been telling us since the 1970s that plastic is recyclable. They are only telling a tiny bit of truth. Less than 10% of the more than 430 million metric tons of plastic produced every year is recyclable. Many of us try to recycle more but it is often wishful – not the right kind of plastic, or not empty and gets sent to the landfill. Many think that all recycling just gets sent to landfill.
But the City of St. Paul does recycle and most of what is collected is processed and reused in Minnesota. Sarah Haas, of St. Paul’s Dept of Public Works, told me that the city pays Eureka $1 million a month for recycling, and, depending on the market for the various processed recyclables, may get a check back (80% after the cost of recycling – Eureka gets the other 20%). It does not generate a lot of money. The county grants the city $700,000-900,000 year – not even the cost of one month.
Eureka’s non-profit recycling program used by Twin Cities municipalities recycles 400-500 tons of all recyclables a day. Only three of seven types of plastic get recycled – #1, # 2 and #5 nonblack plastic, of which bottles, toiletry and food containers are made, AND they must be empty and rinsed.
PET soda pop bottles (#1 plastics) are easily recycled but just 40% of those produced are. Milk and water jugs (#2) and #5 containers are also easy to clean and recycle. Tops can be left on. Plastic straws cannot be recycled.
The non-recyclable plastics are #3 (pipes and siding), #6 (Styrofoam and thin, clear plastic cookie trays and some clear plastic lids that crinkle) #7 (hard clear plastic, like water bottles). Plastic bags (LDPE #4) are recyclable separately at some grocery stores.
The most difficult to recycle plastics are the ubiquitous single use plastic bags and wrap. 12-15 billion pounds of bags are produced every year, with only 5% recycled. Think about those floating around for 400 years if you are offered a bag at a store! My niece found tiny lettering on a plastic bag in WA: please reuse 261 times before discarding!
Merrick, Inc. is a local company that recycles plastic bags from 175 businesses. At Merrick adults with disabilities sort 1 million pounds of plastic a year into bales which are sold to TREX for composite decking. Marissa Jenson, Assistant Production Director at Merrick, advises that plastic bags must be clean, free of debris and dry. See below for Merrick’s website.
What We Can Do
- Refuse plastic straws, plasticware and bags when possible. Some people have their own reusable straws, forks, spoons and bags handy for use. I have yet to get that organized!
- Bring reusable bags when you shop, use washable mesh bags or no bags for produce.
- Find out what you can and cannot recycle at eurekarecycling.org/what-can-i-recycle
- For plastic bag recycling see merrickinc.org/plastic-recycling and earth911.com
- Look into purchasing products from processed recyclables at webapp.pca.state.mn.us/recycled-products
