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State Representative Leon Lillie
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-1188
For more information contact: Michael Howard 651-296-8873
NEWS COLUMN
The Benefits of Business Recycling and Waste Reduction
The state of Minnesota is turning 150 years old this month. This is a great opportunity for us to look back at our past, celebrate our many accomplishments, learn from our mistakes and plan for a healthy and successful future.
A large part of our future success will be based in recycling and waste reduction. Minnesota consistently ranks at or near the top in the amount of waste recycled in the United States every year. We want our children to have a healthy place to call home and our success is a reflection of our commitment and concern for them. Our success is also built on the long-term planning and investment of previous leaders. Twenty years ago, former Gov. Rudy Perpich formed a committee whose recycling recommendations were made into law in Minnesota. The law made recycling mandatory throughout the state, but allowed individual communities to implement their own plans with a dedicated funding source allocated from a portion of the solid waste taxes collected.
Despite our tremendous individual efforts to reduce and recycle waste, the average Minnesotan generates about 6 pounds of garbage everyday, or an average of 2000 pounds per year! According to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance $85 million worth of recyclables are thrown away every year and cost us $45 million to dispose of. A large part of the problem is that our schools and businesses, the places we gather and travel to outside of our homes, are not setup to collect recycling and reduce waste.
Our current waste reduction, reuse and recycling efforts add nearly $3 billion to the state's annual economy and employees almost 20,000 Minnesotans. This is great progress, but in order to maintain and build upon our past and current successes we will have to get serious about developing and implementing recycling practices in our business communities.
There are many ways to do this and even more benefits to doing so. Grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, schools and corporate cafeterias can participate in a food-waste livestock-feeding program. Food-waste generated by participating businesses can be used by livestock producers as animal feed. Management costs of food waste are not subject to the State Solid Waste Management Tax of 17% or the County Environmental Charge of 53%. Several local businesses have significantly reduced their trash hauling and disposal costs. Some examples include: J & J Distributing saving 67%, Saint Paul Radisson Hotels 65% and Knowlan's Super Markets 48%.
Traditional offices can help by reducing paper waste. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year! One Ramsey County business actually found that the cost of using paper was 13 times more than the purchase price of the paper itself.
I think it's safe to say that nearly every business produces some type of recyclable material. When you make the choice to reduce, reuse and recycle at your business, you decrease the amount of garbage that you pay to dispose of. This simple decision helps our environment, our families' health and your bottom line.
For more information on recycling and reduction programs and ideas for your home and business go to: http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/ph/rt/index.htm.
Please feel free to contact me with questions and comments. It is important for me to hear from you so that I can accurately represent you. I can be reached by phone at (651) 296-1188, by mail at 353 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155 or via e-mail at rep.leon.lillie@house.mn.
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