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City of Roseville 2013 Year -End Recycling Report Roseville, MN has one of the best recycling programs in the country. There is currently a dialogue happening on a national level about the future of recycling programs. Cities, counties, states, recyclers and the organizations that create packaging are all talking about ways to reduce packaging, reduce waste and maximize recycling and reuse in the future. In this conversation, Ramsey County has been held up as a model nationally for counties that are doing well and Roseville is one of the strongest programs in Ramsey County. In the many conversations we have had with Roseville residents we hear over and over how people in Roseville strive to leave their city a better place for their children. The recycling program in Roseville reduces waste and improves the economy, and that is a great legacy for the next generations of Roseville residents. (651) 222 -SORT (7678) www.eurekarecycling.org Our mission is to reduce waste today through innovative resource management and to reach a waste -free tomorrow by demonstrating that waste is preventable, not inevitable. The high quality of Roseville's recycling program will only become more apparent as the City works with Eureka Recycling to make the transition to single -sort recycling in 2014. Roseville and Eureka Recycling have previously maintained a two -sort system because of concerns about the negative impact that single -sort recycling can have on the quality of materials and higher costs to the community in single -sort systems. But, the desire from residents for easier sorting which they hope will translate into more recycling in Roseville has made the shift to single -sort important to both Roseville and Eureka Recycling. Now Eureka Recycling and Roseville are moving forward together to "get to the bottom" of how single -sort recycling really works. This change to single -sort also means there is room for more types of plastics, but any plastic with a number #3 or #6 will not be accepted. Eureka Recycling has been able to verify several North American end -use markets that will make new products from most plastic food and beverage containers, but there is no viable end -use market for #3 or #6 packaging. Eureka Recycling is committed to educating Roseville residents about what plastics can really be recycled, because putting non- recyclable plastics or any other trash in the recycling only increases the cost of Roseville's recycling program and reduces the revenue that Roseville receives from the sale of this material to markets, which the city uses to support the community's recycling and waste reduction programs. But most importantly, any time trash is placed in the recycling cart, it reduces the environmental benefits of the whole program. Eureka Recycling is committed to improving single - stream recycling so that each bottle, can, and piece of paper can be put to its highest environmental use. We will track and report the impacts of single- stream recycling in our Zero -Waste Lab. While it certainly won't be the first single -sort program in the country, our commitment is to make it one of the best! Through our zero -waste approach to recycling, and with the help of Roseville residents and city staff, we will continue to recycle everything we can, and communicate with the City and with Roseville residents about the benefits and challenges that we experience with this new system. An affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Q Printed on 100% postconsumer recycled paper that was processed without the use of chlorine.