Freeborn County saw a nearly 50 percent increase in the amount of materials recycled in the last month under the new recycling program implemented in December.

According to data from Waste Management, residents recycled 182 tons of metal, glass, plastic, paper and cardboard from Dec. 26 through Jan. 25. That includes both curbside pickup and rural drop boxes, said Colin Wittmer, Freeborn County household hazardous waste technician.

The average for the four years prior was 122 tons during the same month.

Wittmer said of the tonnage collected in the last month, 138 tons came from curbside pickup — which is in cities throughout the county — and about 44 tons came from drop boxes for rural residents.

“In general most people seem to be happy,” he said.

The statistics come after the county this fall entered into a seven-year contract with Waste Management, which expands on the materials that residents can recycle and updates the manner in which recyclables are collected.

Waste Management delivered new 64-gallon recycling bins to households in November to accommodate the changes.

Cans, plastic, glass and paper can all be placed in the same bin and no longer need to be separated. The recycling bins are lifted up and dumped out by a truck instead of by crews who manually dump each type of material into separate compartments.

“It makes recycling easier. There’s no more sorting, and there’s less steps to have to go through to do the right thing,” Wittmer said.

He said the increase in the amount recycled was expected after seeing increases in neighboring counties that offer similar programs. He noted that Freeborn County had a larger increase in recyclables in its first month of the program than Steele County had in its first month about a year ago.

The contract called for no increase to taxpayers for the changes. Residents pay $30 annually to cover the cost, and Freeborn County receives 80 percent of the value of the recycled material after it pays a basic fee to Waste Management.

“The more participation, the more material we get in, the more money that is generated from it that helps pay for the program,” he said.

Wittmer said right now there is only the 64-gallon size bin to offer residents. If people are disabled or elderly they can arrange someone pick up their recyclables instead of having to take them to the curb.

 

Freeborn County Recycling statistics

January 2010:

128.76 tons

January 2011: 108.11 tons

January 2012: 130.58 tons

January 2013: 122.74 tons

January 2014: 182.16 tons