Since the new curbside recycling program began on July 17, the City of Minot has collected 374.68 tons of recyclable materials, meaning those materials weren’t deposited into the City’s landfill.
How do those numbers compare to the amount of municipal solid waste generated by City of Minot sanitation customers? Since July 17, our trucks have collected 4,362.99 tons of municipal solid waste from our customers.
The breakdown of those recycling and garbage collections looks like this:
- July daily collection averages: 21.24 tons of recycling (3 collection days totaling 63.74 tons); 75.6 tons of MSW (12 collection days totaling 907.1 tons)
- August daily collection averages: 24.6 tons of recycling (5 collection days totaling 122.99 tons); 79.44 tons of MSW (13 collection days totaling 1,032.80 tons)
- September daily collection averages: 23.7 tons of recycling (4 collection days totaling 94.76 tons); 113 tons of MSW (12 collection days totaling 1,356.36 tons)
- October daily collection averages: 23.3 tons of recycling (4 collection days totaling 93.19 tons); 76.2 tons of MSW (14 collection days totaling 1,066.73)
“We used industry averages to help make some assumptions as part of a cost analysis when we created the recycling program,” Utilities Director Jason Sorenson said. “Based on survey we conducted, we thought we might have an opt-out rate of up to 40 percent, but we’re at about a 20 percent opt-out rate. We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the number of people willing to give recycling a try.”
In 2022, about 77,399 tons of MSW went into the landfill from all sources, including private commercial customers in Minot and many from outside of the city. The landfill also accepts MSW from six surrounding counties.
But of 2022’s MSW total, only 13,650 tons came from City of Minot sanitation customers. The amount of MSW generated by City of Minot sanitation customers represents only approximately 18 percent of all the MSW that comes into the landfill.
The recycling program has helped reduce the amount of MSW from City customers going into the landfill. Since July, recycling collections have averaged 46.83 tons per collection week, or about 93.67 tons per month. If that average continues, that means the program will remove approximately 1,124 tons of material annually from the landfill.
“You don’t necessarily go into a recycling program just for the reduction in materials going into your landfill, although that’s certainly one of the benefits,” Sorenson said. “There are a lot of other benefits, too, like the positive impact on the environment, helping to conserve natural resources, and saving energy.”
For more information on Minot’s recycling program, including recycling/garbage collection schedules for the rest of 2023 and all of 2024, go to https://www.minotnd.gov/462/Curbside-Recycling