Dive Brief:

• St. Paul, MN saw a 13% increase in tonnage of recyclables collected between 2016 and 2017, according to a report from the city's Public Works department. 2017 was the first full year under the city's new contract with Eureka Recycling and featured several program changes.
• The city's diversion rate in 2017 was around 24%, about what it was the year before, and below the city's goal of 35% by 2016. On the other hand, participation in the program appears to be relatively high. In a study of neighborhoods with historically low participation rates, all showed a participation rate of at least 84% over six weeks.
• The recycling program has not been without trouble, and some city council members said they've received complaints from constituents over missed collections. The city is planning to withhold 92 cents per household for each week of missed pickups since March 6, according to the Star Tribune.

Dive Insight:

Eureka Recycling, a nonprofit operation, had a previous contract with St. Paul that expired in 2015. They were able to sign a new contract, in part, because they agreed to programmatic changes the city wanted, like switching to wheeled carts, changing locations to the alleys and adding more items to the accepted materials list.

The switch to covered carts did appear to have an unintended consequence, though — the city's residual rate increased in 2017. The Public Works report says that larger carts mean residents have more opportunity to place non-recyclable material in the recycling stream and automated collection means Eureka workers are less likely to remove contaminants from a recycling cart. However, Eureka also invested in MRF equipment that allowed the company to do a better job sorting and produce higher-quality bales.

But, lately, residents have had their recyclables go uncollected for weeks at a time because of winter weather. Part of this is because St. Paul does not plow residential alleyways — where 65% of carts now go — and if Eureka drivers find that alleys are not clear, or not safe to drive on, they will not attempt a collection. Eureka also faced logistics problems in early 2017, right at the beginning of the new contract.

Later this year, St. Paul will begin another overhaul of its solid waste management system — 15 local haulers have agreed to a franchised collection system. The city will purchase wheeled carts for trash collection and city officials expect the program could begin by October of this year. The haulers will first have to reach an agreed upon route distribution.