Joy!!!! A TRASH Issue!!! Good Memory, David! Frank, Tim, Pam, Mark and other posters remind how lucky I am to be a Trash Lady in a community that is so knowledgeable and caring about "my" issue! Trust me, I am the envy of most of my peers across the nation--in addition to being VERY CLEAN, Minneapolis is well known for putting it's environmental resources high on it's priority lists.
Minneapolis was, indeed, in the forefront of the Plastics issue several years ago, and is known Nationwide for the "plastics ban". Folks may remember that Minneapolis did collect plastic tubs (yogurt, margarine, etc), gable top containers (milk and juice cartons), single use microwave containers and aseptic packaging (drink boxes). We also facilitated the Styrofoam drop-off locations around town. Minneapolis did this in an attempt to de-rail the Chicken and the Egg problem of recycling...which comes first, the market or the stream?? The APC (American Plastics Council) heavily lobbied the City Council when they put the packaging ban into effect that plastic packaging COULDN'T be recycled because there was not a sufficient "stream" of quality recyclables to encourage re-manufacturers to invest capital to make something out of those marginal plastics. Minneapolis essentially said---"we'll guarantee the stream---now APC, go forth and get manufacturing facilities built." For several years we kept our part of the bargain....but APC was not able to develop markets, or even legitimate interest in proto-markets. Minneapolis plastics were being stored in a warehouse in Northern Minnesota, the Aseptic and gabletops weren't even able to be stored, and the last Styrofoam recycling facility that I can find that is operational is in New Jersey. Issues Posters that have talked about "closing the loop" are right on----recycling IS a three legged stool...separation of recyclables; remanufacture into a new product; purchase by the consumer. Lack of ANY of those legs topples the stool. America Recycles Day has been emphasizing the closing of the loop---in fact, the ARD Booth at the Home Show the past several years has showcased more than 50 everyday items that are made of recycled content. (Can you name 10?? Shouldn't be hard--especially with our recent weather!) Recycling collection, processing, marketing and transportation to re-manufacture facilities costs more than garbage collection and disposal, even in a City like Minneapolis that has chosen to maximize the marketability of our materials, and minimize the residuals (garbage) in our recycling stream. We have, however, determined through our policy makers at the State, County and City levels that recycling is a Good Thing. Lots of Good Things cost more than "not good" alternatives. It's part of what makes policy discussions in a representative democracy so stimulating! With respect to plastic bags, the very BEST alternative, as some folks have said, is to bring your own. Yes, I understand, personally, how difficult that is. I have the opportunity to always say "paper" when I forget my cloth bags, and my customers provide unending opportunities for me to share my excess paper bags. Yes, if you call Solid Waste and Recycling, and need paper bags for your recyclables, we are usually able to deliver a wad of paper bags to your door. Please remember that your recyclables DO have to be in paper bags--it's not only a safety issue for our crews, it's part of making sure that the recyclables are marketable, and the Kraft paper markets (the bags themselves) are almost always positive. Yes, one is still able to buy furnaces for one's house that burn coal, wood and garbage. This is NOT, however, an environmentally good alternative and is usually reserved for rather remote applications. I remember that when I was buying my house a few years ago, several that I looked at had new, multi-fuel furnaces that were considered outstanding features of the homes. The typical home fire burns below 900 - 1,000 degrees, and 850 degrees gives us optimal Dioxin formation in the home burner exhaust. The Downtown HERC plant, on the other hand, burns at or in excess of 2200 degrees, and provides complete combustion of organics (with no Dioxin emissions), and with backup air emissions control and testing for the other stuff. Home combusters just don't have those safeguards. ALL of the garbage that Minneapolis collects, whether from the City crews or the MRI crews, is delivered to the HERC facility. Only ash, or waste that HERC can't handle because it's full, is landfilled. Minneapolis, from the last set of metro region numbers that I saw, had an increase in waste generation that was lower than any of the surrounding communities, and lower than the State as a whole. However, we are increasing the tonnage of waste that we are generating. Part of this is due to demographics shifts, part due to a very good economy, part to our complete management of the solid waste stream (for instance, tires count toward our tonnage---most other places do not provide tire disposal options for their customers). Minneapolis premiered the Zero Hero program years ago, was offering composters to our residents in the early 90's, and prominently features reuse and donation alternatives in our education efforts. We are trying, but we still have a ways to go to get to the Zero Landfill condition that the State has set for 2006. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
