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Studies

Curbside Collection Study

Weighing Collected Materials

In May 2002 Eureka Recycling, in partnership with the city of Saint Paul and the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (MOEA), completed a 14-month study that takes a close look at five different ways to pick up recycling at the curb. The study examined how sorting method, container size and frequency of pickup affect the success of the recycling program as measured by environmental results, cost, convenience and resident satisfaction.

Based on the results of this study, Eureka Recycling recommends four main changes to improve the recycling program in Saint Paul. These conclusions are specific to Saint Paul, but may be valid in other communities as well.

Recommended Changes to Saint Paul’s Recycling Program for 2004:

• Implement a “two-stream” sorting system, in which all paper is collected together in one category and all containers in another category.
• Start picking up #1 and #2 plastic bottles at the curb.
• Provide weekly collection in 18-gallon recycling bins.
• Work toward adding organics collection to the curbside program.

For details on the study (PDF documents):

Executive summary (11 pages)
Entire report (77 pages)
Education and outreach materials (28 pages)
Curbsider version: newsletter article announcing study results (4 pages)
“Downstream of Single Stream,” Resource Recycling, November 2002.

To use these PDF documents, a reader program must be installed on your computer to display, print, and navigate. The Adobe® Acrobat® reader is available for download at no cost from Adobe's website.

Pictures (Click for enlarged view):

"Two-stream" collection in bins provided a good balance of cost, convenience and environmental benefit, according to the study.	"Single-stream" collection — where all recyclables are put in one container — proved to be more expensive because a lot of sorting is required before the materials go to market. It also resulted in higher contamination and more materials being thrown out.
The study found that residents tend to recycle more when they have more storage capacity, as with these carts. But blue bins are less expensive and provide just as much overall capacity as carts when they are serviced weekly instead of biweekly.	Eureka Recycling tested curbside collection of organics in one neighborhood. Kitchen scraps and nonrecyclable paper were set out for composting, helping the average household divert 74 percent of discards from the trash.

Apartment Recycling Study

Eureka Recycling has received a grant from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA) that will allow us to improve apartment, or "multifamily," recycling programs in Saint Paul and across the state. Multifamily recycling programs, which serve large apartment complexes, townhomes and condominiums, have great potential for increased recovery of recyclable material. These programs face many challenges, including high turnover, restricted space, and language and cultural barriers.

Saint Paul's multifamily recycling program has been recognized as one of the best in the nation. The OEA grant will allow Eureka Recycling to test strategies to further improve Saint Paul's program and make our expertise available to other communities in the form of an easy-to-use toolkit for busy recycling program managers.

To produce the toolkit, Eureka Recycling will research, develop and test outreach materials at selected sites, paying special attention to the challenges of cross-cultural communication. The toolkit will combine Eureka Recycling's 15-year experience with new insights from the study to help communities recover as much valuable recycling material as possible from all residents.

Recycling posters in Somali, Russian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish and Hmong are available by calling (651) 222-SORT (7678).

Last Update: April 2003

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