Improving Solid Waste Management
Since the early 1970s, the State of Minnesota and all 87 Counties have been responsible for managing our solid waste. This has resulted in the development of integrated solid waste management systems that include waste reduction and recycling programs, composting and waste-to-energy facilities, household hazardous waste programs, and numerous other services that you use every day. These efforts have dramatically improved Minnesota’s solid waste management practices!

Waste management practices that used to be little more than open burning dump sites in the 1960s have now changed into an integrated system that recycles more and landfills less waste than most other states. As a component of integrated solid waste management, comprehensive recycling programs have been implemented by all Minnesota counties, thus providing their communities with several important benefits.

Recycling Conserves Natural Resources
As we increase our consumption of disposable products, limited reserves of natural resources are being depleted. The extraction, transportation, and processing of virgin raw material is very energy-intensive, and in many cases it results in environmental degradation to land, water, air, and ecosystems. On the other hand, using recycled materials to manufacture new products conserves natural resources and saves energy, thus helping to limit these negative environmental impacts.

Recycling Saves Disposal Capacity
As Minnesota’s population (and waste generation rates) have increased over the years, recycling and waste reduction have helped to minimize the overall amount of trash that needs to be buried or burned, thus decreasing the need to build expensive new landfills and incinerators.

While new landfills are very expensive to build, we will still need to do that when our existing landfills finally run out of space. Building new landfills is very unpopular, as most people tend to fight against having a new landfill built in or near their own community. Increased recycling will postpone the need for new landfills.

Recycling Is Preferable to Land Disposal
Landfills are the least preferred waste management method on the Minnesota’s waste management hierarchy, since they use up a commodity that cannot be reproduced (LAND) and they can lead to contamination of our groundwater resources. The state has worked diligently to clean up old leaking landfills, and to prevent new facilities from polluting air, soil, and ground water through better monitoring and engineering. However, such protective efforts are expensive. Successful waste reduction techniques like recycling can reduce the need for new landfills.

Recycling Is Affordable
It doesn't cost a lot to do the right thing and, in fact, it is often entirely free of cost! When curbside recycling of paper and cans began a few decades ago, there was a cost associated with that task. However, as the recycling industry has developed, there is frequently now a greater demand for recycled material feedstock for manufacturers than there is a supply of that material to go around. That means that recycled materials have a greater value now than ever before.

As we continue to expand the list of items able to be recycled, this sustainable growth should continue to expand. For example, the Scott County HHW Facility is now able to accept many appliances, electronic devices, and tires, for recycling at no cost. This is an exciting trend that should continue into the future!

More Information
For more information, including a current price list, please visit our HHW web page!