Randy Tuchtenhagen, Solid Waste Officer

Are we slipping a little with our recycling program? A question I have to ask after reviewing the monthly collection reports from 2008, 2009 and this year. Our numbers are flat!

Our recycling program tracks the number of curbside stops and each load is weighed and recorded. As I compare monthly totals for those years, we are not increasing stops or the tons collected. The problem now is how to fix it.

Certainly I would like to take credit for educating people about making wise purchases, therefore reducing waste, or that people are purchasing in large quantities therefore reducing the number of containers that go to the recycling program, etc. Unfortunately I cannot make that assumption. What I have noted is that garbage going to the landfill is the same or increased.

I work with local industry on waste reduction and finding markets and outlets for materials that can be recycled. I have noted more movement away from the Dumpster mentality and how reducing waste and recycling saves money. I also know that the state tax on garbage (9.75 percent on residential and 17 percent on commercial waste) is a huge incentive to reduce waste. Let’s look at some facts that are pretty convincing.

Minnesota requires garbage haulers to offer volume pricing. This means you will pay more for larger containers of garbage than smaller ones. With that being said, you would also pay more taxes on a larger monthly bill than if you have a smaller volume service. Many homes have the two-wheeled tip carts that are rolled to the curb on garbage day. They are generally 96 gallon, 64 gallon or 32 gallon in size. Most companies also offer a pre-paid bag service where the customer purchases a package of garbage bags and only places them out for collection when they are full.

Take this savings times 12 months, plus the reduced state solid-waste tax and you have saved quite a sum of money. For the commercial business this number is huge when you consider the cost of the large steel Dumpster service plus 17 percent solid waste tax.

With the change to every other week we are now receiving more recycling service. Additionally we have updated our recycling information and instruction sheets. They are listed on the Freeborn County web page at www.co.freeborn.mn.us, and we have placed them throughout the county at stores, post offices, banks and other locations for your convenience. The updated instruction sheets also list the every other week collection calendar. The green sheets are for people who used to receive service on the second and fourth weeks and the yellow sheets are for people who used to receive service on the first and third weeks.

For information on what can and cannot be recycled, please call our office or e-mail questions. We welcome the opportunity to help people increase recycling volume. www.co.freeborn.mn.us.

Randy Tuchtenhagen is the solid waste officer for Freeborn County.