Minnesota city inks contract with Eureka Recycling

Eureka Recycling,  a nonprofit recycling firm in Minneapolis, has been awarded the contract to collect and process the recyclables from the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. The contract begins Jan. 1, 2017, and will include collecting material from single-family houses and small apartment buildings (five to 11 units) throughout the city.

Eureka has been handling recyclables for the city for a number of years. However, the new contract will allow the organization to expand and grow the recycling program.

St. Paul has a population nearly 300,000.

The recycling company will undertake a number of changes to the city’s “All In” program, which is a single-sort system. The collection program includes most standard recyclables, including all grades of paper, plastics—sans PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and polystyrene plastics (Nos. 3 and 6)—and metal containers.

According to a spokeswoman for Eureka Recycling, under the new contract the recycling program will undergo changes aimed at making recycling more convenient and accessible to city residents. Changes include cityowned, wheeled and lidded carts that will be delivered to residents’ homes; alley collection where feasible; the collection of additional materials; and new geo-location technology to track participation and tonnage. The city anticipates the changes will result in a 35 percent increase in tons collected and a 15 percent increase in participation.

The recycling changes are a part of the city’s “Sustainable St. Paul Program,” which aims to make recycling easier through single-sort bins and increasing the amount of accepted, recyclable items.

A news release from the city of St. Paul says the city received four responses to its Request for Proposals to collect and process the city’s recyclables. The city says, “Eureka’s proposal for recycling processing and marketing was particularly strong in its ability to provide diverse and local markets for recyclable materials and the inclusion of additional materials including paper rolls/tubes; refrigerator boxes; and cardboard food cans.

“Eureka’s proposal for collection from single unit dwellings and small apartments (five to 11 units) included a strong service plan and experience with transitioning programs from blue bins to carts," the news release continues. 

“It’s important to the success of the program and for the future of our city that recycling is accessible and works for everyone. The new contracts are a great opportunity to ramp up our waste reduction and recycling efforts,” says Council President Russ Stark.

The city continues to evaluate the proposals for collection services from larger multiunit dwellings and hopes to complete negotiations on that contract within the next several weeks.

Last year, Saint Paul residents recycled nearly 20,000 tons of paper, glass, metal and plastic beverage and food containers.

Along with landing the contract with St. Paul, Eureka Recycling recently was awarded a contract to handle the processing of the recyclables collected by the city of Minneapolis.