St. Michael Will Host Open House Regarding Recylcing Program Expansion

The City of St. Michael is looking at taking the blue and yellow recycling cart used by some residents and spreading it to each home.

St. Michael will be working with Veolia, who still holds the city's recycling contracts for cart services.

"It's been a good relationship," said City Administrator Bob Derus.

The carts would replace the blue bins, something that’s been done in nearly every community surrounding St. Michael, including neighbor Albertville.

The cost, the city is estimating, will be about $2.50 per month per household. That won't be in addition to the current recycling cost already placed on utility bills sent out monthly by the city.

To inform residents, the city will host an information meeting at 7 p.m. tonight (Nov. 3) at. Those who can't attend, but have questions, can contact Derus at 763-416-7936 or by e-mailing him at bderus@city.st-michael.mn.us.

The city's recycling program to date has been a huge success, according the City Engineer and Assistant Administrator Steven Bot, with more materials being recycled each year. The city set a record in 2010 for the number of tons recycled, he added.

With that success first came the option (in January 2010) for residents to "buy in" on a single-sort program, where homeowners can dump recyclables, without sorting, into a large, 65-gallon cart by city partner Veolia Environmental Services/Veolia Recycling. For a fee, homeowners could opt-out of the 18-gallon bin and upgrade to the cart.

"It's been a very big success, with more than 1,000 homes going that direction," Bot said. "And it's increased our recycling stats by a pretty large margin."

That's a big factor, because the state, which mandated community recycling in the first place, compensates communities for keeping with that mandate in accordance to the amount of recylables it is able to keep out of landfills.

The city likes the advantages a cart gives residents, including an increase in recycling capacity (thereby reducing garbage hauling costs for residents, in many cases), a lid to keep recylables from blowing away on windy fall days (of which there have been plenty), and a single-sort program that makes it easier on homeowners, Bot said.

"It's really been popular with those that are already doing it," he said.

IF YOU GO

What: Citywide recycling program open house

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3

Where: St. Michael City Hall

Why: The city is looking to bring single-sort recycling to each household.