Master Recycler/Composter course manual - October 2018 - Hennepin County
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Master Recycler/Composter
course manual
October 2018
PAGE
1 Introduction
3 Chapter 1 | Solid Waste Management
9 Chapter 2 | The Recycling Process
23 Chapter 3 | Food and Organic Waste
30 Chapter 4 | R
esidential Waste:
Consumption and the Three Rs
41 Chapter 5 | H
ome Composting and
Preventing Food Waste
46 Chapter 6 | H
ousehold Hazardous Waste
and Problem Materials
53 Chapter 7 | C
ommercial Waste Reduction
and Recycling
62 Chapter 8 | R
ecycling at Events
71 Chapter 9 | E ngaging the Public and
Motivating Behavior Change
Introduction
Welcome to the Master Recycler/Composter (MRC) program. As an MRC,
you will play an important role in preventing and reducing waste, increasing
recycling and composting, and conserving resources in Hennepin County.
Waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting help reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, conserve energy and natural resources, create jobs and
economic development opportunities, and protect our environment and
quality of life. Although we have made some progress in diverting waste,
many recoverable resources are still being sent to waste-to-energy facilities
and landfills, and the recycling and organics recycling rate has only increased
slightly over the past decade.
Through the MRC program, participants learn about waste prevention, reuse,
recycling, composting, community engagement, and behavior change. They
then implement programs that prevent waste, increase recycling, and engage
others in learning about these issues. This approach is critical to effectively
changing behaviors and motivating environmental protection.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 1
Bridging the awareness-action gap Payback activities may be individual projects created
by you and/or fellow MRCs that are approved by the
Most people know they should reduce, reuse, and recycle program coordinator. Activities may also be organized by
to protect the environment, but what people think they the program coordinator and will involve working with
should do is not always what they do. In fact, research other volunteers and local education and solid waste
demonstrates that just giving people information has programs. You can be notified of payback opportunities
little or no effect on their behavior. So if brochures by joining the Facebook group or getting on the email
won’t change behavior, what will? Research reveals that list. Learn how at hennepin.us/payback.
personal contact paired with specific information and
resources that address barriers to reducing waste is a
powerful way to inspire action.
MRCs bridge the gap between awareness and action
by motivating their friends, family, co-workers, and
communities to reduce waste in their homes and
workplaces. As a trained MRC volunteer, you will inspire
people to change the way they think about and manage
their consumer choices and their waste. Additionally,
you will raise awareness of ways people can reduce the
amount of waste they generate, recycle and compost
at home and work, and find alternatives to hazardous
products. However you choose to participate in the program, your
contributions are an important part of a larger movement
to protect our natural resources.
Program basics
The MRC program
The program manual
consists of two stages: This manual is provided to supplement class content,
formal training and public reinforce key messages, and supply resources for outreach
outreach. Participants and education. Each week, you should pre-read the
attend about 15 hours of chapter or chapters that will be discussed in the next
classroom instruction and class.
then volunteer at least
30 hours implementing Once you’ve completed the course, your manual will be
programs and doing your reference tool to help you develop outreach and
outreach in their education projects. Whether you staff an information
community. table, give a presentation, or work on a project, your
manual provides key messages and facts, common
The training program consists of classroom sessions and a vocabulary used in the field, and information on the
field trip. Classroom activities include visual presentations resources available to you.
and group discussions. During the field trip, participants
tour recycling and composting facilities. Samples of Hennepin County factsheets, brochures
and handouts are included as part of your training
When you agree to become an MRC, you make a materials and can be ordered for free at hennepin.us/
commitment to “pay back” 30 hours through community environmentaleducation.
outreach or waste reduction projects. Once you fulfill this
commitment, you will become a certified MRC. This program is designed to empower you with the
training and tools you need to educate your community
Your payback involves implementing a system or program on waste reduction, recycling and composting. As an
that eliminates or diverts materials from the waste stream MRC in training, you are encouraged to ask questions,
and/or providing direct community outreach to educate share your experiences and provide feedback on the
and inspire others to practice waste reduction. program.
2 | Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual
Chapter 1 | Solid Waste Management
A brief history of waste and landfills
Included in this chapter
When the majority of people lived in rural areas, their waste, which consisted
almost entirely of organic materials derived from plants, humans, and animals, • M innesota’s waste
was burned for fuel, used as crop fertilizers, or fed to livestock. These types of management hierarchy
waste management strategies are still practiced in some areas of the world. • What do we throw away?
• Collection
As civilization developed and populations concentrated in towns and cities, • Transfer
throwing waste out the door to animals or into the garden posed public health
• Disposal
problems.
• Solid waste planning and
Some cities, notably in parts of Asia, solved their waste problem by hauling policy
organic waste out to farms and composting it to revitalize crop lands. Another
method was to take waste out to the countryside and dump it in piles. Around
500 B.C., Athens issued the first-known law against throwing waste in the
streets, requiring it to be dumped no less than one mile outside the city walls.
The open dump was born.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 3
Minnesota’s waste management history composting, and resource recovery over land disposal.
The act also created a landfill siting process and required
Prior to the 1960s, most waste was disposed of in open or solid waste abatement planning for metropolitan
burning dumps located throughout Minnesota. All types counties.
of wastes were allowed at these sites. The Minnesota
Department of Health, created in 1927, was given STATE OF MINNESOTA WASTE MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY
legislative authority over dumps located in tourist camps, MOST PREFERRED PRACTICE
summer hotels, and resorts. Regulatory control of all other
Waste reduction and reuse
sites was the responsibility of the city, village, or township
in which the dump was located. Recycling
Composting
The composition of our waste was vastly different then, yard and food waste
and the volume of household wastes was much smaller. Resource recovery
waste-to-energy
Containers were made of glass or tin, and food was or waste composting
bought fresh or grown and processed at home. Junk
Landfilling
mail and plastic packaging didn’t exist. People were, in with methane recovery
general, much more frugal. Two world wars and the Great Landfilling
Depression made people more conscious about saving without methane
recovery
and reusing items as much as they could. Many people
went to dumps to scavenge for reusable materials and
goods. In northern Minnesota, dumps even served as a
social gathering place for activities such as shooting rats LEAST PREFERRED
and watching bears.
The Minnesota Waste Management Act mandates a two-
Land use concerns grew as urban areas started to expand.
fold strategy:
New dumps became harder to site because fewer people
were willing to have dumps near their properties. In • Pursue the highest methods of solid waste
1965, the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act was passed. abatement through source reduction, recycling,
Two years later, the State of Minnesota created the organics recovery and resource recovery.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to monitor
and regulate air, water, and land pollution. In 1969, the • Minimize the use of landfills and ensure landfills are
Minnesota Solid Waste Act, which granted oversight of environmentally sound.
solid waste management to the MPCA, was passed. The
This strategy has helped us achieve a recycling rate of
act prohibited open burning, established a solid waste
approximately 45 percent, supported resource recovery
permitting process, and emphasized upgrading dumps to
facilities that use solid waste to generate energy,
sanitary landfills.
encouraged the implementation of organics recycling
During the 1970s, concerns over pollution from landfill programs and the development of composting sites,
sites led to the emergence of regulations for hazardous and introduced source reduction, toxicity reduction, and
waste disposal and groundwater protection at landfill public awareness activities.
sites. These regulations would evolve over the next
As the next section on waste composition demonstrates,
several decades.
there is ample opportunity to shift more materials
Counties, with oversight from the MPCA, were given to top of the state’s waste management hierarchy
responsibility for local solid waste management and were by emphasizing waste prevention, recycling and
required to submit solid waste management plans to the composting.
state. The composition of waste was changing rapidly
and now included processed food, plastic packaging, and
disposable diapers.
The Minnesota Waste Management Act was passed in
1980 and established a waste management hierarchy. The
hierarchy prioritizes waste reduction and reuse, recycling,
4 | Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual
What do we throw away? How waste is managed in Hennepin County (2017)
Municipal solid waste (MSW) includes everything we
19% Landfilling
dispose of, including everything we recycle, put in the
trash, bring to a household hazardous waste facility, 41% Recycling
etc. MSW consists of everyday items we use and then
throw away. This includes appliances, batteries, bottles, 3% Organics
cans, clothing, food scraps, furniture, newspapers, paint,
37% Resource
product packaging and much more. MSW is waste that recovery
comes from our homes, schools, businesses, and public
spaces.
In 1960, total MSW generation in the U.S. was 88 million
tons. This amount has steadily increased since. In 2015,
Americans generated about 262 million tons of MSW, or
about 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day. A 2016 waste composition study examined the
composition of trash in Hennepin County. This reflects
only what has been thrown in the trash; not what has
U.S. MSW generation rate per person already been diverted for recycling or composting.
4.72 4.67
4.40 4.48
Hennepin County MSW Composition in 2016
Pounds of MSW generated per person per day
3.66
40.8% Trash
2.68
13.8% Recyclables
24.9% Organics
Composition of 8.9% Construction
the trash: and demolition
percent by weight
4.2% Yard waste
1960 1980 2000 2005 2010 2015
7.4% Other:
More than 91 million tons of MSW were recycled or 3.1% Textiles
3.1% Scrap metal,
composted in the United States in 2015. The national electronics,
recovery rate for recycling (including composting) was mattress
0.9% Recyclable
34.7 percent. plastic bags
and film
0.3% Household
Hennepin County has a recycling rate that is higher hazardous
than the national average. In 2017, 44 percent of waste
waste generated in the county was either recycled or
composted. Of the trash left, 37 percent was send to
As shown, there are opportunities to increase both
resource recovery/waste-to-energy facilities, and 19
recycling and composting. Especially of food waste and
percent was sent to landfills.
other organic waste, which is the most prevalent material
in the trash that could be diverted – representing about
25 percent of the trash by weight.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 5
Collection Only one transfer station is publicly owned – the
Hennepin County Transfer Station in Brooklyn Park. The
The Twin Cities solid waste infrastructure is made up of remaining are privately owned. Transfer stations allow
private and public entities that collect, transport, recycle, waste haulers to spend more time picking up waste
recover, and land-dispose of the materials generated at rather than traveling long distances to dump their loads
homes, businesses, and institutions. Hennepin County at the landfill. Because four to five waste truckloads can
licenses nearly 200 waste-hauling businesses to collect fit into one transfer trailer, traffic to and from the landfill
and transport MSW. Waste haulers that collect and is decreased, which saves energy, time, and money and
transport non-MSW, recycling, or organic waste are not reduces traffic impacts.
licensed. State law requires waste haulers to provide
volume-based service, meaning rates are set based on
the amount of waste set out for collection.
Most Twin Cities communities allow residents and
businesses to choose their waste hauler. This is referred
to as open collection. Some cities, such as Minneapolis,
arrange for the service by contract or provide their
own service. This is referred to as organized collection.
Communities with organized collection represent
48 percent of the households in Hennepin County
(although most multifamily residences in these cities are
not included in these services). There are no organized A transfer trailer at the Hennepin County Transfer Station in Brooklyn Park can
collection arrangements for commercial waste, although haul four to five waste truckoads.
some communities give small businesses access to
organized collection services. The Hennepin County Transfer Station in Brooklyn Park
also accepts household hazardous waste and provides
free drop-off facilities for recyclables and residential
Transfer organics.
In Hennepin County, waste is either hauled directly to
Disposal
the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) or a land
disposal facility, or it may be taken to a transfer station Resource recovery
where waste is loaded into trailer trucks and transported
The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) is a waste-
to landfills farther away. In the Twin Cities, there are 19
to-energy facility in Minneapolis that uses mass-burn
transfer stations, of which 14 are licensed to accept MSW
technology to generate energy. At HERC, waste is burned
and five to accept only construction and demolition
to produce high-pressure steam that turns a turbine to
(C&D) waste.
generate electricity. A portion of the steam is diverted
to provide steam for heating and hot water to the
downtown Minneapolis district energy system and Target
Field.
Each year more than 11,000 tons of ferrous metal are
recovered from the waste stream at HERC and recycled.
This is almost double the 6,500 tons of ferrous metal
collected annually in curbside and drop-off recycling
programs in Hennepin County.
HERC can process up to 365,000 tons of waste annually by
state permit. The amount of electricity generated at HERC
The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) in downtown Minneapolis. is enough to power 25,000 homes each year. Additionally,
HERC supplies enough steam to downtown Minneapolis
and Target Field for the annual natural gas needs of 1,500
homes.
6 | Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual
The Elk River Resource Recovery Project (GRE-Elk River) Hennepin County developed its 2018 Solid Waste
is a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) processing plant owned Management Master Plan to reach the goal of recycling
by Great River Energy (GRE). The RDF is burned to create 75 percent of waste by 2030. View the Hennepin County
electricity at the GRE combustion facility at its Elk River Solid Waste Management Master Plan at hennepin.us/
electric power station. GRE-Elk River’s permitted capacity solidwasteplanning.
is 547,000 tons per year with an estimated maximum
RDF production of 425,000 tons per year. Hennepin
County sends up to 100,000 tons of MSW to GRE-Elk River Municipal responsibility
annually. Municipalities are required by Hennepin County
Ordinance 13 to adopt local laws relating to the
separation of recyclables from waste. Hennepin County’s
Landfills Residential Recycling Funding Policy facilitates the
In 2017, 19 percent of MSW generated in Hennepin transfer of Select Committee on Recycling and the
County was land disposed. As shown in the table, eight Environment (SCORE) funds, which the county receives
landfills received Hennepin County MSW in 2017. The from the state, to municipalities for support of their
majority of the waste was landfilled in the metro area. curbside recycling and composting programs. These
funds primarily support programs for households of up to
Landfill Tons Location Owner four units.
Pine Bend 124,861 Inver Grove Republic
Heights, MN
Spruce Ridge 2,614 Glencoe, MN Waste Private sector responsibility
Management Individuals and businesses are expected to follow the
Burnsville 84,920 Burnsville, MN Waste state, county, and municipal laws and regulations and
Management participate in waste management programs. Generally,
Elk River 20,078 Elk River, MN Waste the public sector relies on the private waste management
Management industry to provide waste management services,
Nobles County 108 Rushmore, MN Nobles County including waste and recycling collection, disposal of ash
and residues, and handling of problem materials and
Superior 7-mile 44,807 Eau Claire, WI Advanced
hazardous wastes.
Disposal
Timberline 476 Weyerhaeuser, Waste
WI Management Hennepin County solid waste management
Lake Area 2,116 Sarona, WI Republic programs and initiatives
Landfill
Hennepin County has a growing number of programs
Total 279,980 and initiatives that help cities, residents, organizations,
and businesses reduce waste and increase waste
Solid waste planning and policy diversion. An overview of these programs and initiatives
can be found in the county’s annual Recycling Progress
Solid waste management policy plan Report, available at hennepin.us/solidwasteplanning.
In 2016, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
approved a new solid waste management policy plan
to set objectives for 2020 and establish a framework for
meeting the statutory goal to recycle 75 percent by 2030.
State statute requires metropolitan counties to prepare
master plans every six years that identify strategies to
meet the recycling goals and objectives in the state’s
Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan. The
policy plan was adopted by the Commissioner of the
MPCA on April 6, 2017, and establishes the framework for
managing solid waste in the metro area through 2036.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 7
Resources
The following resources provide more information about
solid waste management in Hennepin County and
throughout Minnesota.
• hennepin.us/solidwasteplanning: Information about
how waste is managed in the county and the solid
waste planning process.
• hennepin.us/HERC: Information about the Hennepin
Energy Recovery Center, the county-owned waste-to-
energy facility.
• revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=7035: The Minnesota
Waste Management Act on the Minnesota Office of
the Revisor of Statutes website.
8 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualChapter 2 | The Recycling Process
Why recycle? Energy, economy and environment: the three Es
Included in this chapter
The benefits of recycling are vast. By choosing to recycle, we reduce our
consumption of fossil fuels, create jobs in Minnesota, conserve natural
• Why recycle?
resources, and protect our environment. • S ource separation
and collection
Recycling saves energy • The basics of plastics
Manufacturing products from recycled materials uses far less energy than • Manufacturing
and marketing
manufacturing the same product from raw materials. It takes 90 percent recycled-content products
less energy to manufacture an aluminum can from recycled aluminum,
about 50 percent less energy to manufacture a glass bottle from recycled • Buying recycled
glass, and about 75 percent less energy to manufacture paper from • Barriers to recycling
recycled paper. Recycling decreases our demand on fossil fuels and
• Product stewardship
increases our energy independence.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 9Recyclables are made into many new products Recycling and buying recycled products also helps keep
Recycled materials are manufactured into a variety of Minnesota’s air and water clean. Used recycled materials
products, from recycled-content paper to new aluminum to manufacture products creates significantly less water
cans to building supplies, and are used by many pollution than manufacturing from raw materials. For
Minnesota companies. example, making white office paper from recycled paper
creates 74 percent less air pollution and 35 percent less
The largest segment of the recycling industry is made of water pollution than making it from virgin wood pulp.
manufacturers that use recycled paper, post-consumer And beyond reducing pollution, making products out of
paper, and old corrugated cardboard (OCC) as a raw recycled materials conserves natural resources such as
material source. Westrock in St. Paul and Liberty Paper water and timber.
in Becker are major companies in Minnesota using this
feedstock. Much of the recycled paper and OCC they use
to make new products come from Minnesota recyclers.
The recycling process
Understanding recycling processes is an important part of
advocating for recycling. Recycling involves much more
Recycling benefits our economy than taking a bin of materials out to the curb. Successful
recycling depends on aligning several steps: source
Recycling helps support local and statewide markets.
separation and collection; processing, marketing, and
About 37,000 jobs in Minnesota are directly and indirectly
remanufacturing; and finally, the purchase of recycled-
supported by the recycling industry. These jobs pay an
content products.
estimated $1.96 billion in wages and add nearly $8.5
billion to Minnesota’s economy.
Additionally, recyclable material has tremendous
economic value. Minnesotans recycle about 2.5 million
tons of materials every year that are worth $690 million.
Plus, we lose money when we don’t recycle. About 1.2
million tons of recyclable material is thrown away each Photo credit:
Republic Services
year. That material, if recycled, would be worth about
$285 million. Instead, it costs more than $200 million to
send the material to landfills.
Recycling protects our environment
By reducing energy use, recycling decreases greenhouse
gas emissions and reduces Minnesota’s carbon footprint.
Recycling has indirect benefits to climate change as well.
Take paper recycling, for instance. Each mature tree we
don’t cut down can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants
and carbon dioxide out of our air each year.
10 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualSource separation and collection In 2011, Hennepin County revised its residential recycling
Typically, raw materials are made into products that funding policy to require cities to standardize their
we consume and then throw away when we finish curbside recycling programs and accept more materials
using them. This linear process – from extraction of raw for recycling. To be eligible to receive funds under the
materials to production to consumption and finally new policy, communities must collect at a minimum the
disposal – creates waste. following materials through their residential curbside
programs:
Separating recyclable materials from other wastes at the
point when we’re done with them and ready to dispose • Boxboard (cereal, cake mixes and pasta boxes,
of them is called source separation. This is the start of the shoe boxes, electronic and gift boxes, boxes from
recycling process. toothpaste and medications, etc.)
• Corrugated cardboard
How we separate and prepare materials depends on our
local collection system and the specifications of materials • Glass food and beverage containers
markets. In Hennepin County, there are several methods • Magazines and catalogs
for collecting recyclable materials once they have been • Metal food and beverage cans
source-separated. • Milk cartons and juice boxes
• Mixed paper, including mail, school and office papers
Curbside collection • Newspaper and supplements
In curbside • Plastic bottles, containers and lids, #1-5
collection, Residential curbside recycling programs in Hennepin
recyclable materials County are single-sort. In a single-sort, or commingled
are picked up system, all materials (paper, glass, metal and plastic) can
from homes and be placed into the same collection container. Outside
businesses at the Hennepin County, some communities offer dual-sort
site of generation. collection where paper is kept separate from metal,
This method plastic and glass. Most residential recycling programs in
has the greatest the Twin Cities are single-sort.
potential for capturing the most recyclable materials
because it’s convenient. However, it is more costly than
other methods.
In Hennepin County, all communities provide curbside
recycling collection to single-family households and
residential buildings with up to four units. Depending
on the community and waste hauler, residents and
businesses in Hennepin County have collection
containers for recyclables, yard waste and organics (food
and food-soiled paper).
Communities use a variety of methods to provide
curbside collection to their residents. Most cities enter
into a contract with a recycling hauler. A few use city By state statute, materials that are properly sorted for
crews to collect materials, and a few require licensed recycling cannot be collected for disposal. For this reason,
waste haulers to provide recycling to their customers. communities and haulers are careful in deciding which
materials belong in a curbside program. A material may
The county provides SCORE funds to municipalities
be technically recyclable but not appropriate for curbside
to help pay for residential curbside programs. The
collection.
distribution of these funds is based on the percentage of
households a community serves with curbside collection.
These funds cover about 25 percent of residential
curbside program costs.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 11Some considerations that determine which materials are recycle to their tenants. Some communities also mandate
eligible for curbside pickup include: that businesses subscribe to recycling collection.
• The material must have a stable market so that it can Additionally, a state requirement went into effect in 2016
continue to be recycled indefinitely. mandating that all businesses and multifamily properties
that generate four yards of waste or more per week have
• The hauling and sorting machinery necessary to
recycling service.
collect and separate the material from other materials
must be available in the area.
• Instructions for recycling the material must be easy Recycling drop-off collections
for the public to understand. Recycling is also collected at drop-off locations where
As shown in the graph below, the amount of newspaper materials are not necessarily generated. Drop-off
collected in curbside recycling programs has declined collection sites include retail stores, community centers,
over the past 15 years, while the amount of mixed paper schools, and government facilities. Materials collected at
has increased. The amount of metals has decreased drop-off sites include plastic bags, yard waste, mattresses,
slightly, while the amount of plastic has increased. The printer cartridges, electronic waste, and tires.
amount of glass collected has fluctuated. Some sites, including the county’s drop-off facilities
in Bloomington and Brooklyn Park, also collect the
Amount of material collected through residential same materials that are included in curbside collection
curbside recycling programs in Hennepin County programs.
Newspaper
Newspaper Mixed/other paper
Metal cans/scrap
Mixed/other paper
Drop-off collection sites may charge a fee for materials
Glass
Metal cans/scrap
Glass Plastic bottles
that are costly to recycle.
Plastic bottles
60,000
60,000
50,000
50,000
40,000
40,000
Tons recycled
Tons recycled
30,000
30,000
20,000
20,000
10,000
10,000
0
0
01
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
01 09
0
13 0 019
14 20 09
12
13
14
15
02 0 0
03 0 0
04 0 0
05 0 0
06 0 0
07 0 0
08 0 0
09 0 0
10 0 0
129 0 1
0 109 20
20 220
20 20
15 20
20
20
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
20 2
200 0 2
00
01
20
20
220
20
2
Multifamily housing and business recycling Drop-off collection containers to recycle plastic bags and wrap are available at
many grocery and retail stores.
Recycling service to multifamily properties, including
apartment buildings, condos and townhouses, and
Buy-back centers
businesses is not as uniform as it is for single-family
households. Property owners and commercial businesses Buy-back centers pay for high-value materials such as
contract with private waste haulers for recycling service, aluminum cans, scrap metal, and cardboard. Buy-back
and not all entities subscribe to the service. centers may also accept, but not pay for, low-value
materials such as glass or newspaper in addition to the
Hennepin County
higher-value materials they collect.
communities
passed ordinances
in the early
1990s that
required owners
of multifamily
housing properties
to provide the
opportunity to
12 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualCommunity cleanup events
Community cleanup events are one-day or weekend Collection: Dual vs. single sort
events that allow residents to drop off materials for To explore the debate about whether single-sort or
recycling or safe disposal. These events are typically dual-sort systems are better for recycling, the MPCA
mostly focused on household garbage, but many commissioned a study in 2006. The project involved
also accept recyclable materials that are not collected gathering information about the collection and processing
curbside. methods at four major materials recovery facilities (MRFs)
in Minnesota, the quality of materials received at seven
major recycling markets, and the characteristics and benefits
of select recycling equipment. The following provides a
summary of the key findings.
Collection and processing
• Glass breaks in both single-sort and dual-sort collection,
but this can be reduced with collection vehicles and
methods designed to minimize it.
• Glass breakage is more prevalent in single-stream
processing systems.
• The amount of processing residuals generated at
Mixed-waste processing single-stream facilities in the metro area varies
All of the collection methods mentioned above rely on significantly, from 2 to 7 percent of throughput.
residents and businesses to separate recyclables from
End markets
garbage before collection or drop off. An alternate
method, known as mixed-waste processing, involves • Most end markets said contamination had increased
pulling out recyclables after garbage is collected. The compared to five years earlier.
method is costly, and recovery of recyclables is low. With • More than 85 percent of the end markets said that they
the exception of ferrous metal separation at the county’s have received both good and bad material from single-
stream and dual-stream facilities.
waste-to-energy facility (HERC), mixed-waste processing
isn’t practiced in Hennepin County. • The major glass market in Minnesota has seen a
dramatic decrease in the quantity of clean, color-
separated glass cullet and attributes this decrease
Material preparation and contamination to increased single-stream recycling.
For recycling to be successful, it’s critical that participants • The most problematic contaminants at paper mills
understand what materials are accepted and how to include glass, plastic bags and film, plastic, and
properly prepare them. Properly preparing materials unacceptable paper grades.
ensures that they will go to the markets for which they • At plastic manufacturers, contaminants include glass
were intended and be successfully recycled. and metal.
• At glass manufacturers, contaminants include ceramics,
Recyclable materials that contain other materials that
pottery and mixed glass.
cannot be recycled are referred to as “contamination.” A
• Most of the paper mills and all of the plastics
good example of contamination is recyclables that are
manufacturers feel that single-stream recycling is a
soiled with food.
contributing factor to the decline in feedstock quality.
Contamination also refers to materials that end up in the Other factors they identified include:
wrong stream. For example, shredded paper at recycling -- Contaminated loads from dual-stream MRFs.
facilities is often too small to get sorted into the paper -- Feedstock demand and pressures from overseas
stream and ends up as contamination in the glass stream. markets.
Too much contamination in the recycling stream may -- Reduction in public education efforts.
result in those materials being disposed of as trash -- MRFs that emphasize material quantity over quality.
instead.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 13Processing After sorting, recyclables are graded to reclaim higher
After collection, recyclables are sorted, processed, and value materials. For example, high-quality office paper
sold to end users or manufacturers to be used in new and cardboard may be pulled from a mixed-paper pile
products. Recycling would not be possible without of junk mail and magazines. This maximizes the revenue
markets that need those materials for manufacturing. from the sale of materials in commodity markets. Glass
may be separated by color so it can be remanufactured
Recyclable materials collected from homes, apartments, into clear, green, and brown bottles.
and businesses are taken to materials recovery facilities
(MRFs, pronounced murfs) to be sorted into material Once sorted and graded, materials are baled or otherwise
types. In Hennepin County, MRFs are privately owned condensed for transport to market. Glass is usually
by haulers. Three MRFs are currently operating in the crushed into small pieces called cullet, while metals,
county. These are owned by Eureka Recycling, Republic paper, and plastics are baled.
Services, and Waste Management. There are several more
MRFs located throughout the Twin Cities, some of which
receive material from Hennepin County residents and
businesses.
At the MRF, recycled materials are sorted and graded,
contaminants are removed, and materials are prepared
for markets. Recyclables at the MRF travel along a series
of conveyor belts where various methods are used to sort
them.
Mechanical process take advantage of the physical
differences among materials. For example, magnets grab
steel items, electric currents kick out aluminum, optical
sorters and air jets detect paper and plastic, and screens The separation of commingled material is not a perfect
separate glass by weight. process. Machines and workers rapidly separate materials,
People also work on the line hand-picking items that the and as a result, the wrong materials may be baled
machines miss, such as milk jugs and phone books. together and end up at a processing facility. These
Sorting removes contaminants that lower the value of the materials, whether recyclable or waste, are considered
materials and damage processing equipment. residuals and are typically sent to a landfill. Residual rates
at the MRFs serving Hennepin County are under
10 percent.
14 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualThe basics of plastics At MRFs, plastics are sorted into a broad category
of mixed plastics. The resulting mixed plastics
Plastics are increasingly are sorted by plastic type, baled, and sent to a
prevalent in our waste reclaiming facility.
stream. Plastics make up
At the facility, any trash or dirt is sorted out, and
more than 12 percent of
the plastic is washed and ground into small flakes.
the municipal solid waste
A floatation tank further separates contaminants
stream in the U.S., which
based on their different densities. Flakes are then
is a dramatic increase
dried, melted, filtered, and formed into pellets.
from 1960 when plastics
The pellets are shipped to product manufacturing
represented only 1 percent of the waste stream.
plants, where they are made into new plastic
Plastics are most commonly used for containers and products.
packaging, such as soft drink bottles, containers and lids,
and shampoo bottles. Plastics are also used for durable
Plastic resin identification codes
items like appliances, furniture, and toys and non-durable
items like cups, diapers, medical devices, trash bags, and The number you find on the bottom of plastic
utensils. containers is called the resin identification code.
The resin identification coding system was
introduced by SPI, the plastics industry trade
Recycling rate for plastics
association, in 1988.
The overall recycling rate for plastics was only 9 percent
The following are resin identification codes for
in 2012. However, the recycling rate varies greatly for
plastics:
different types of plastics, and the recycling rate for some
plastics is much higher. For example in 2012, 30.8 percent #1 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)
of PET bottles and jars and 31.6 percent of HDPE #2 #2 High density polyethylene (HDPE)
bottles were recycled. #3 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC or V)
The waste sort conducted by Hennepin County in 2016 #4 Low density polyethylene (LDPE)
found the capture rate for recyclable plastics to be about #5 Polypropylene (PP)
50 to 60 percent, which means people are only recycling #6 Polystyrene (PS)
about half of the plastics they could be.
#7 Any other plastic, including mixed resins
and polylactic acid (PLA), which is derived
How plastics are made from sources like corn starch or sugar cane.
Plastics can be divided into two major categories: PLA is compostable in commercial facilities.
thermosets and thermoplastics. Recycling programs commonly accept plastic
• A thermoset solidifies or “sets” irreversibly when containers, and the SPI coding system offers a
heated. They are useful for their durability and way to identify the resin content of bottles and
strength and are therefore used primarily in containers commonly found in the residential
automobiles and construction. Other uses are waste stream. Plastic containers are usually
adhesives, inks, and coatings. marked with a number that indicates the type
of plastic. Contrary to common belief, the
• A thermoplastic softens when exposed to heat and
resin number in a triangle, which looks like the
returns to original condition at room temperature.
recycling symbol, on a plastic product does
Thermoplastics can easily be shaped and molded
not mean it is collected for recycling. However,
into products such as milk jugs, floor coverings, credit
consumers familiar with resin codes accepted
cards, and carpet fibers.
in their local recycling program can use this
information to determine whether or not certain
Plastics recycling plastic types are accepted for recycling.
According to the American Chemistry Council, about
1,800 U.S. businesses handle or reclaim post-consumer
plastics. Plastics from municipal solid waste are usually
collected from curbside recycling bins or drop-off sites.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 15Markets for recovered plastics
Markets for some recycled plastic resins, such as PET The primary market for recycled PET bottles is fiber
and HDPE, are stable and even expanding in the U.S. for carpet and textiles, and the primary market for
Currently, the U.S. has the capacity to be recycling recycled HDPE is bottles, according to the American
plastics at a greater rate because the capacity to Chemistry Council. Looking forward, new end uses
process post-consumer plastics and the market for recycled PET bottles might include coating for
demand for recovered plastic resin exceeds the corrugated paper and other natural fibers to make
amount of post-consumer plastics recovered from the waterproof products like shipping containers.
waste stream.
Type of plastic How it’s used Recyclability
#1: Polyethylene • Bottles for water, soft drinks, juice, sports drinks, PET is one of the most common resins. Most curbside
terephthalate (PET mouthwash, ketchup, beer, and salad dressings programs accept this type of plastic.
or PETE) • Clamshell containers, such as for strawberries and Black plastics are often not accepted for recycling. The
lettuce Food jars, such as peanut butter, jelly, jam, optical sorters used at recycling facilities struggle to
and pickles properly sort the black plastics. Black plastics are also
• Microwaveable food trays commonly used for microwavable foods. These items
have an additive that prevents them from melting in the
microwave, which makes it difficult to recycle them.
#2 High density • Bottles for shampoo, dish and laundry detergent, Most curbside programs accept the bottle form of HDPE.
polyethylene and household cleaners
Plastic bags are not accepted in curbside recycling
(HDPE) • Cereal box liners programs because they get tangled in the equipment at
• Juice concentrate and tofu containers recycling sorting facilities. Plastic bags can be recycled in
• Milk jugs drop-off containers available at many retail and grocery
• Shopping bags stores.
• Shipping containers
#3 Polyvinyl • Bags for bedding, medical shrink wrap, deli and PVC is not commonly accepted for recycling.
chloride (PVC or V) meat wrap
• Blister packs
• Clamshell containers
• Pipes, siding, window frames, fencing, decking,
and railing
#4 Low density • Bags for dry cleaning, newspapers, bread, frozen LPDE is commonly found as plastic film, which is
polyethylene foods, produce, and household garbage not accepted in curbside recycling programs. Plastic
(LDPE) • Coating for paper milk cartons and beverage cups bags and film are accepted for recycling in drop-off
• Container lids containers available at many retail and grocery stores.
• Shrink wrap and stretch film
• Squeezable bottles
#5 Polypropylene • Bottle caps Most curbside programs accept this type of plastic.
(PP) • Medicine bottles
• Reusable plastic containers, such as Tupperware
• Takeout food containers
• Yogurt and margarine tubs
#6 Polystyrene (PS) • CD cases There aren’t good recycling options for this type of
• Coffee cup lids plastic.
• Foam packaging The Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers does offer a
• Foodservice items including bowls, cups, plates, mail-in program.
and utensils
• Packing peanuts
• Takeout food containers
#7 Other (mixed • Any plastic product that does not fit into resin This is a broad category that includes a variety of
resins, polylactic categories 1 - 6 plastics.
acid (PLA)) • Bio-based plastics made from corn, potato, or Curbside programs don’t accept this type of plastic.
sugar derivatives
• Large (three to five gallon) reusable water bottles Bio-based plastics (such as polylactic acid, or PLA) can be
• Oven-baking bags, barrier layers, and custom composted in commercial composting facilities and are
packaging accepted in organics recycling programs. Generally, this
• Some citrus juice and ketchup bottles plastic will not degrade in backyard compost.
16 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualConcerns about chemical additives in plastics Reducing exposure to BPA and chemical
additives
Plastics are ubiquitous in American life, but an increasing
To reduce your exposure to BPA and other
number of reports suggest plastics are not entirely
chemical additives:
safe, especially for food storage. The primary concern is
whether the additives used to manufacture plastics leach • Minimize your exposure to plastics by
into food. A University of Texas study1 from 2011 confirms choosing alternatives. For food storage,
that hormone disrupting chemicals leach from almost choose glass containers, stainless steel
all plastics, even BPA-free plastics. The toxic compound containers, cloth, or natural waxed paper.
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a hormone-disruptor that mimics • Don’t subject plastic to heat and cold. Keep
estrogen in the body, but BPA is not the only hormone plastics out of sunlight, the dishwasher, and
disruptor found in plastics. the microwave.
• When reusable plastic containers become
Why are chemical additives used? heavily worn or scratched, retire and trash or
recycle them.
When manufacturers make a product, they consider
different packaging properties to protect their product. • Write to the manufacturers of the products
Chemical additives make plastics stronger, softer, more you buy and ask them to choose non-toxic,
flexible, flame-resistant, crack-resistant, or light-resistant. renewable, and recycled-content packaging.
BPA is a chemical building block that is used primarily Tips for reducing exposure to BPA in receipts:
to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. • Minimize the number of receipts you get.
Polycarbonate plastic is a lightweight, heat and electrical Decline receipts at gas pumps, ATMs, and
resistant material used in automobiles, digital media (such other machines when possible. Choose to
as CDs and DVDs), electrical and electronic equipment, have receipts emailed or texted to you.
reusable food and drink containers, sports safety • Ask the stores you shop at to use BPA-free
equipment, and many other products. paper for receipts or offer alternatives to
BPA is also used to produce epoxy resins, which are used paper receipts.
in electrical laminates for adhesives, printed circuit boards, • Store receipts separately in an envelope in
composites, paints, and protective coatings. Cured epoxy your wallet or purse.
resins are used as protective liners in metal cans to • Never give a child a receipt to hold or play
maintain the quality of canned foods and beverages. with.
• After handling a receipt, wash your hands
BPA in paper before preparing and eating food.
Research has • Do not use alcohol-based hand cleaners after
found that BPA handling receipts as this can increase the
can be absorbed skin’s absorption of BPA (Biedermann, 2010).
into human • Do not recycle thermal receipts or paper.
skin through BPA residues from receipts will contaminate
the handling recycled paper.
of receipts. In • If you are unsure, check whether paper is
thermal receipts used by many stores, BPA is often used as thermally treated by rubbing it with a coin.
a color developer for the printing dye. Such receipts have Thermal paper discolors with the friction;
a thermal-sensitive layer that, when heated, produces conventional paper does not.
color. Beyond cash register receipts, high levels of BPA • The EPA has issued an action plan for BPA
are also often present in the thermal paper used to make under its enhanced chemical safety program.
baggage destination tags, cigarette filters, and bus, train Learn more at epa.gov/assessing-and-
and lottery tickets2. About 30 percent of thermal paper managing-chemicals-under-tsca/bisphenol-
enters the paper recycling stream, which can introduce bpa-action-plan.
BPA into products like toilet paper, napkins, and food
packaging. Traces of the chemical are found in our air and See footnotes at the end of this chapter.
water, soil, food, and sewage.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 17Manufacturing and marketing recycled- Newspaper
content products The process for recycling newspaper
is similar to office paper. It is repulped,
The final steps in recycling are making new products mixed with virgin fibers, and rolled
and getting individuals, businesses, and governments to into new paper. Newspaper is made
purchase those products. into new newsprint, egg cartons,
Recycled materials compete against virgin materials, paperboard boxes, such as cereal or
often in worldwide markets. As a result, the economics cracker boxes, or boxboard for shoe
of using recycled materials can change based on virgin boxes.
commodity prices. For example, if wood chips are readily
and cheaply available, prices for recycled paper pulp Corrugated cardboard
might be low.
Corrugated refers to brown cardboard with a ribbed layer
The volume of material available also affects what between the flat pieces. At recycling sorting facilities,
manufacturers are willing to pay. For example, when corrugated cardboard and kraft (brown paper) bags are
many communities began newspaper and cardboard baled together for processing.
recycling simultaneously, prices fell because the supply of
recyclable material became so large. Alternatively, if too These materials are mixed with wood-chip fiber. They
little material is available, no business will be interested in are most commonly made into the middle layer for
investing in the manufacturing capacity to use it. new cardboard. Some may be used in outside layers of
cardboard, kraft bags, or boxboard.
The following provides a brief overview of the
manufacturing processes for the most commonly
recycled materials. Mixed paper
Mixed paper is what is left after higher grades of paper
Office paper have been separated out. It primarily consists of recycled
mail and paperboard boxes. It is recycled into the middle
Some office paper is used to make 100-percent recycled layer of corrugated cardboard and into boxboard.
paper. However, most of it is mixed with virgin fiber to
make a variety of products, including book covers, egg
cartons, game boards, gift boxes, matches, napkins, paper Cartons
towels, and toilet paper. Cartons that held
At a mill, used paper is mixed with water and heated in refrigerated foods (such
vats to break down the fibers and turn it into pulp. The as milk, juice, and cream)
pulp may be forced through a series of screens to remove contain valuable, high-
contaminants such as paper clips, staples and plastic tape. grade white paper
sandwiched between
It then goes through a series of tanks, centrifugal cleaners, layers of polyethylene
and water washes. Washing, bleaching, and de-inking is plastic. Refrigerated
necessary to produce white paper. cartons contain about 80 percent paper and 20 percent
The watery pulp is spread over rotating screens, pressed, polyethylene.
and dried to form paper. Cartons that held food stored in the cupboard (such
Paper fibers can be recycled five to seven times before as broth, juice, and wine) contain high-grade paper
the fibers are too short to be useful. sandwiched between a layer of polyethylene plastic on
the outside and a thin layer of aluminum on the inside.
These cartons contain on average 74 percent paper, 22
percent polyethylene, and 4 percent aluminum.
The pulping process at a paper mill separates the plastic
and aluminum foil from the paper. It is then recycled as
high-grade office paper.
18 | Master Recycler/Composter Course ManualGlass Electronics
Refilling and reusing glass beverage
containers was once the norm in the
U.S. This practice has nearly vanished
1970s due to transportation costs,
consolidation of the bottling industry,
and the rise of competing containers Computers, monitors, televisions, cell phones, and other
made of plastic, aluminum, and non- household electronics contain heavy metals and other
refillable “one-way” glass. materials that are hazardous to human health and the
Glass is easily recycled into new glass, and recycling glass environment if they are not properly managed. Hazardous
remains more energy-efficient than manufacturing it from components of electronics include lead, cadmium, and
raw materials. If glass is not sorted by color, new glass will mercury. Recycling is especially important for computers
be amber or brown. and cell phones, which contain rare earth metals whose
Glass cullet is also recycled into abrasive construction mining processes require extensive use of toxic chemicals.
aggregate, fiberglass insulation, floor tile, fractionator for To prevent hazardous materials from ending up in the
striking matches on matchboxes, pipe bedding, reflective trash, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which are commonly
pain, and septic filtration medium. found in older TVs and computer monitors, were
banned from the garbage in 2006. The following year,
Tin (steel) Minnesota enacted standards requiring manufacturers
to meet recycling targets for devices with video displays.
The steel in cans is coated with a thin layer of tin. Cans are Product stewardship laws such as Minnesota’s require
soaked in a chemical bath to remove the tin. The steel is manufacturers to take an active role in ensuring the
sent to a mill for reprocessing into ingots and are made proper disposal or recycling at the end of a product’s life.
into new food and beverage cans.
Electronics are accepted from residents at Hennepin
Steel cans can be recycled without detinning, but this County drop-off facilities in Bloomington and Brooklyn
process produces more air pollution because the tin is Park. Some retailers also accept electronics for recycling.
burned off.
Electronics are broken into various components, including
leaded glass in CRTs, circuit boards, plastics, scrap metal,
Aluminum and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). Different methods and
Aluminum is one of the most markets are needed to recycle and remanufacture the
highly recycled materials in various components.
the world because it saves a
lot of energy. Making a can Textiles
from virgin bauxite ore take
20 times as much energy as Clothing, rags, curtains, and
making a can from recycled aluminum. Aluminum cans other fabrics come primarily
can be collected, recycled, and back on store shelves from the residential sector.
within 90 days. Some communities offer
curbside collection for old
textiles, or residents can take
Plastics items to a drop-off location for reuse or recycling.
Because people are adamant about recycling plastics, Once collected, items are sorted and either resold locally,
many markets for manufacturing recycled plastics have shipped out of country, or used in recycled-content
developed even though new plastic is cheap. products such as cleaning rags, stuffing, and insulation.
Plastics are recycled into many new products, including
bottles, carpet, handbags, plastic lumber, pipe, T-shirts,
and fleece clothing.
Master Recycler/Composter Course Manual | 19Buying recycled Weak markets
Sustaining a recycling business is difficult without strong,
The recycling loop can only be completed when we
stable markets for recycled materials. In order to support
purchase products containing recycled content. But
a recycling business, expanded or new manufacturing
people often don’t think twice about whether a fleece
facilities are needed to convert recyclable materials into
garment or an aluminum can is made of recycled
useful items, a stable inflow of recyclables is needed to
material. So how do markets for recycled-content
support the investment costs, and consumer demand is
products develop?
needed for sale of the products.
Compared with the 1990s, many recycled-content
For some materials, such as tires, colored glass, and
products are now mainstream. In one example,
certain plastics, markets are few. Volatile prices for
government leadership in purchasing recycled-content
materials, including paper and plastics, also affect
paper helped develop markets for recycled paper, and
recycling.
now recycled paper can easily be found in stores.
For example, in late 2008, market fluctuations led to a
Costs for recycled-content products decrease with
65-percent drop over three months in prices for used
economies of scale as recycled materials move beyond
cardboard, and big cuts in prices occurred for most other
niche markets and become cost-effective alternatives to
recycled materials.
products made with virgin materials.
As consumers, we all play an important role in closing the
Inexpensive disposal
loop. Our purchase of recycled-content products helps
send a message to manufacturers that more of these Despite a state mandate that haulers charge for garbage
products are wanted. disposal based on volume, the cost differential between
various container sizes provides little to no incentive to
reduce waste and recycle more.
Barriers to recycling
Although many materials are theoretically recyclable, Public awareness and consumption habits
currently only glass, metal and paper are recycled to a Changing throw-away habits continues to be one of
significant extent. Plastics are recycled, but not as much Hennepin County’s central challenges to increasing
as other materials. recycling programs. Continued outreach, promotion,
Some key barriers that contribute to low recycling rates and education are necessary to maintain and increase
include unfavorable tax laws, weak markets, inexpensive recycling rates.
solid waste disposal, inadequate infrastructure and
technology, poor economics of commercial recycling, and Virgin material subsidies
public awareness and consumption habits. The following
provides a summary of these key barriers. Some federal tax laws favor raw materials over recycled
materials. Depletion allowances created in the past to
encourage oil and mineral development continue to
subsidize resource extraction. Investment tax credits apply
to equipment that converts or refines virgin resources
into products, but not to equipment that processes
recycled materials. Tariffs and transportation fees have
also favored raw materials over recycled materials. Some
policies are changing as government agencies sponsor
market development programs for recycled materials,
education programs to promote recycling, and subsidized
collection of recyclable materials.
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