Environmental technician educator

There are six categories of what to recycle in Lyon County that are on our current recycling guide. To be a successful recycler in Lyon County, it is important to read and follow the recycling guide. If a particular item isn’t listed within the six categories listed on our recycling guide, it is not recyclable.

The recycling guide is not a suggestion but a carefully planned list of packaging materials that the recycling company that takes our recycling in Shakopee has approved. They carefully put this list together because it matches the items that they can turn around and sell for a profit.

Any other items that are left in our community recycling roll-offs or in our recycling carts that are not on our official list, are either trash or could be recycled through alternative markets. These alternative markets require residents to bring these items to the environmental office or a special building at the landfill. Those items that are left either by mistake or on purpose in recycling carts or at community recycling bins cost the recycling program in Lyon County money.

Why is recycling (and reducing and reusing) so important? More now than ever, reducing what goes into landfills is so important. It is a community issue and not an individual issue because once a landfill is full, it is very difficult to find land to build another one.

The Twin Cities area is going through this problem right now. Four current landfills are applying for expansion because so much more trash is going into the landfills there. What happens when these landfills are full? A good example is what lengths New York City goes through to dispose of trash. In the past, they were allowed to dump it in the ocean. Now, they are trucking trash as far away as Ohio.

Recycling can be difficult especially if considering what is recyclable or what is not when it comes to plastic items. Kitchen, laundry, and bath bottles and containers are the only plastic items that can be recycled. Plastic garden pots, laundry baskets, kiddie pools are not recyclable. A good way to remember if a plastic item is recyclable is to ask if the item came from the kitchen, laundry, or bath area in your home. Did it hold food or liquid for personal use?

The European Union is now taking a stance against plastic waste, in particular single-use plastics such as Styrofoam food containers, plastic knives and forks, plastic straws, plastic plates, and so forth. And in addition to this ban, no company that works inside the European Union can now ship any plastic materials to Third World countries. They must have a plan to deal with their plastic trash responsibly or they can’t sell it in plastic containers. Some day, that will be coming to the United States as currently we only recycle about 10% of plastic waste while the EU recycled nearly 50% of their recycled waste.

75% of Lyon County residents place a recycling cart out each week that there is recycling. There are between 6,100 and 6,200 carts picked up each week during recycling. Please remember to be generous with our recycling haulers to allow them time to get to everyone’s home to pick up your recycling. If your recycling cart has not been picked up and emptied, please call us the next business morning so that we can make arrangements to have it emptied.

If you need a recycling cart, wish to start recycling, or have a cart that needs repair; please give us a call at the Environmental office for assistance at (507) 532-8210.