Handy facts and figures about waste and recycling in the Twin Cities.

Waste

• In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, we produce 7 pounds of waste per person each day. That is enough waste to fill the Metrodome 11 times every year!
  
• Nearly 30 percent of our trash is packaging. A lot of it is cardboard that can be reused or recycled.


• Every year an average household receives over 100 pounds of unwanted, unsolicited mail.


• Food waste accounts for 11 percent of the garbage we throw away. Much of this waste can be avoided or put to better use by composting.


• How is waste managed in the Twin Cities area? About 41 percent of waste is recycled, 32 percent is processed at waste-to-energy facilities to create electricity or fuel and 27 percent is sent to landfills in Minnesota and other states.

Recycling

• About one-third of what we still throw away at home is recyclable through curbside programs.

• Residents and businesses in the Twin Cities area recycle over 1.3 million tons of material each year. By recycling, we:
  • Saved enough energy to power 93,000 homes.
  • Saved six thousand acres of forest.
  • Reduced air emissions equivalent to removing 157,000 cars off the road.

• Twin Cities metro area residents recycle almost 1 million pounds of paper every single day.


• Recycling paper doesn't just save trees! Production of recycled paper uses 80 percent less water, 65 percent less energy and produces 95 percent less air pollution than paper production using raw materials.


• A newspaper is recycled and back in circulation in less than four weeks.


• Nationally, only one out of every five plastic bottles is recycled.


• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV or computer for three hours.


• Recycling one glass jar saves enough electricity to light a conventional 60-watt bulb for four hours or an 11-watt compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours.

E-waste

• Electronic equipment contains heavy metals and other materials that can become hazardous to human health and the environment if they are not properly managed. These include cadmium, lead, and mercury.

• Americans bought 2.5 million TVs for the 2007 Super Bowl. That's up from 1.7 million bought for the 2006 Super Bowl.

• In 2007, counties in the Twin Cities metro-area collected almost 7 million pounds of electronics waste from households for recycling.

• In just one year, more than 112 million pounds of valuable materials were recovered from disposed electronics for recycling and reuse. Materials recovered include steel, glass, plastic and precious metals.

Some trash is trouble for the garbage!

• Unusable or unwanted household chemicals are considered household hazardous waste (HHW) when their disposal poses an environmental threat. Products qualify as HHW if they are flammable, combustible, corrosive, toxic or an oxidizer. Additional signal words to look for on the label include caution, warning, danger and poison.


• In 2007, 189,000 residents participated in household hazardous waste programs. Each participant brought in an average of 79 pounds of household hazardous wastes and problem materials.