Eureka Recycling - recycling education and programs

Composting: the next step to zero waste

Over twenty years ago, we saw a way to reduce our trash by recycling. Then we found out what everything still left in the trash was doing to our health and the planet. So began the idea of zero waste, because recycling alone will not empty our garbage cans. Today, we take another step toward zero waste with composting.

About one-quarter of what we put in our garbage is food scraps and other items like paper towels and egg cartons, which can be composted. Composting, instead of wasting, gets us closer to the things we all really want and need—healthy food, abundant resources, clean air and water, safe and reliable products, and healthy families and communities.

Learn more...

Zero Waste

Eureka Recycling is the only organization in Minnesota that specializes in zero waste, and is one of the largest zero-waste organizations in the nation. Our services, programs, and policy work present solutions to the social, environmental, and health problems caused by wasting.

We track national, regional and local developments, using our expertise to advocate for practices that help individuals, organizations, and communities understand the significance of zero waste and to achieve their own zero-waste goals.

Get more in-depth information about these important issues:

What is zero waste?
What is extended producer responsibility?
How are recycling, composting and climate change linked?
Common Recycling Questions such as Why can’t I recycle more plastic?, Does it matter how my recycling is collected?, Do my materials really get recycled?

Eureka Recycling Announces
New Leadership Structure

We are happy to announce that we have new leadership at Eureka Recycling.

Last year we completed Eureka Recycling’s strategic plan, which leverages all of the investments that have been made in Eureka Recycling and our success, to bring us closer to realizing our mission of demonstrating that waste is completely preventable. Our new leadership structure, which flows out of our strategic plan, is comprised of a three-person collaborative executive team. This team will design and oversee initiatives to further Eureka Recycling’s mission to demonstrate that waste is completely preventable.

Tim Brownell stepped up to be our Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Susan Hubbard has taken a new position as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to shape our strategies to address challenges and opportunities, implement long-term and short-term strategic actions, and articulate these strategies to our stakeholders. Debbie King has joined the team as CFO, a new position that allows Eureka Recycling to calculate and realize the value of our zero-waste work.

We share this news with you with great confidence that this team, alongside the 100 people working at Eureka Recycling and the hundreds more who play a part in our work, will give credence to all past and future investments in Eureka Recycling. We wholeheartedly welcome Debbie and look forward to what our next strategic plan brings.

Letter from Eureka Recycling
Press Release

COMPOST: Make Dirt, Not Waste

Learn more about the environmental benefits of composting, composting at home, at restaurants, at zero-waste events, and more by visiting Eureka Recycling's new composting website www.makedirtnotwaste.org

Please Voice Your Support
for the New PCA Landfill Rules!

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (PCA) has issued new permitting rules and financial assurance requirements for landfills in Minnesota designed to ensure that operators could pay for any environmental clean-up needed at a later date. In 2008, the Legislature passed a bill calling for the PCA to write new rules for landfills and get approval from the Legislature on the rules. That report is now in front of legislators. The proposed rules are being met with steep opposition from lobbyists and landfill operators.

Currently, bills in both the House (HF#3702 omnibus) and Senate (SF#3003) contain language that adopt the proposed rules, but limit the applicability of the PCA rules to NEW landfills sited after January 1, 2011, and exempting all current landfills and expansions to current landfills.　

Because it is extremely difficult to site a new landfill in Minnesota (no new landfills have been permitted in Minnesota in the last 10 years), exempting existing landfills and expansions of current landfills effectively negates the original intentions and positive environmental impact of the PCA’s proposed rules.

Take Action TODAY!

Citizens are needed to call legislators to support the Pollution Control Agency rules by adding in an amendment when the bills reach the floor of the house and senate to reinstate language that includes the expansion of existing landfills back into these bills.

Call your legislator today! Find out who your legislator is and how to contact him/her
This is especially important if your legislator is a member of the House Environment & Policy Oversight Committee.
Contact the PCA Commissioner Paul Eger to voice your support by phone 651-757-2016 or email
Read the Capitol Report article "New PCA landfill rules draw protest"
Eureka Recycling will continue to follow the development of these bills in the coming weeks .For more information, contact Eureka Recycling by phone 651-222-7678 or email.

2010 Guide to Recycling

Eureka Recycling is proud to be the nonprofit recycler for Saint Paul, Roseville, Maplewood, Lauderdale, Arden Hills and St. Louis Park. Recycling from White Bear Lake, Lakeland and Lakeland Shores, and residents serviced by Troje's and Maroney's is also brought to our facility.

Call the recycling hotline (651) 222-SORT (7678) for more information.

Download the 2010 Guide to Recycling

For your recycling collection day, or to learn how to get a recycling bin, please call the recycling hotline (651) 222-7678 or follow the link to your city above.

If you would like free reminder stickers for your calendar, please call the hotline (651-222-SORT) or contact us via email.

The Guide to Recycling in translation:

ESPAÑOL: Información en español está disponible en nuestro sitio web. También se puede llamar nuestro servicio al cliente (inglés solamente).

HMOOB: Ntawv qhia txog tej khoom siv uas zoo kho siv dua muaj ua lus Hmoob nyob online lossis hu tau peb tus xovtooj Lus-Askiv.

SOOMAALI: Macluumaadka alaabtaa dib loo warshadeyn karo waxaad ka helaysaa bogga internetka isagoo Soomaali ku qoran amase waxaad soo wacdaa khadka degdegga ah ee luqadda-Ingiriiska.

Recycling and Art meet in Mears Park

The City of Saint Paul, Public Art Saint Paul, and Eureka Recycling have created a unique combination of public recycling and public art in an initiative that works to accomplish two important goals of the city: become a waste-free city by 2020 by tackling the challenge of public space recycling and increase the city’s public art by designing city amenities that reflect the values of the community. A launch event on June 26th introduced the new recycling containers in Mears Park so that people who use Mears Park will now be able to recycle their aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles. It also announced a whimsical ritual involving a “secret” gift, being released in the Mears Park community and designed to engage citizens in creating a culture of recycling.

The Mears Park project is part of a larger citywide project to first study and then expand public space recycling in parks and other community gathering spaces. It includes additional pilots at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, launched in June of 2008, and new recycling efforts at the city’s six largest urban park pavilions. In the coming months, Eureka Recycling and Saint Paul Parks and Recreation will be observing and analyzing all aspects of this pilot to inform best practices to apply to the rest of the city.

For additional information about the program, visit www.recyclinginmearspark.org

Public Space Recycling Virtual Tour

http://www.eurekarecyclingpsrtour.org/