Maple Grove Gets Greener with Single Sort Recycling

Maple Grove residents appear to be getting greener - often opting for the recycle bin when it comes to disposing their waste.

Maple Grove Recycling Coordinator Frank Kampel said changing to single sort, or single-stream, recycling has helped encourage residents to recycle.

"It's been going very well, participation has increased greatly, tonnage has increased greatly," Kampel said.

City data suggests an increased in recycling tonnage collected since implementing single sort in 2009, with numbers indicating an approximate 11 percent increase in tonnage collected from 2008 to 2009, and 13 percent from 2008 to compared to 2010.

Recycling in Maple Grove is provided by Allied Waste of Minnesota, which has provided the single sort program.

Before implementing single sort, Kampel said, recycling involved a two-sort process that required separating paper from plastic and glass and placing paper recyclables in paper bags in a small bin. Now, all recyclables go into a single container the same size as a garbage can.

"It's a lot more convenient and a lot less messy, the wind doesn't take stuff and blow it all over the place," he said.

"I do like the single sort better because you can put everything in one bag and it's much more convenient for me being a mom of three kids, it's just I have no time to recycle and put it all in separate," resident Angela Yarmakovich said.

In addition to single sort recycling, the city offers an additional incentive to recycle with the Recyclebank program. With Recyclebank, residents who recycle in Maple Grove can see savings on purchases from major stores like Macy's, Bed Bath & Beyond and .

"When residents put recyclables out for collection they earn points toward a discount at local and national businesses," Kampel said.

He said Recyclebank uses a radio chip to detect how much is being recycled in any given area across the city.

Recyclebank Representative Randi Desiderio said Recyclebank membership is free for anyone in the U.S. who is interested in being rewarded for their green actions.

"Recyclebank partners with solid waste and recycling haulers and municipalities to offer our program for home recycling," Desiderio said. "For instance in Maple Grove, and in other areas of Minnesota, we are in partnership with Allied Waste so their customers who register with Recyclebank can earn points each time they bring their Allied Waste recycling cart to the curb."

He said through the company's partnership with Allied Waste, customer bill statements are used to bring awareness to the program. Additionally, residents are encouraged to visit Recyclebank.com and register for the program. Members who refer friends are awarded 10 Recyclebank points for each friend they sign up.

Kampel hopes to see the number of participating households go up but has noticed that the number of people using points within the program has increased.