Marge Mollers heaved recycling bins out of knee-deep mounds of snow early Thursday morning, her breath freezing in the subzero air and a layer of frost blanketing her hair.
The job of a Minneapolis recycling worker is especially tough in this Minnesota winter, but it's a far cry from previous years under the multi-sort system of hauling several bins of glass and other recycling to the truck, then dumping them into different compartments.
Under the new single-sort system, fewer workers are being injured lifting bins, falling or getting cut by glass, recycling is up and the city is saving money.
"It's been a great success," said Dave Herberholz, the city's director of solid waste.
Last winter, a dozen recycling workers were injured on the job, compared with just one so far this season. The city has saved more than $250,000 on workers' compensation since implementing the system, and workers say their jobs are easier and safer — though employees agree there are still improvements to be made.
"We're probably not where we'd like to be at," general foreman Sheldon Swensen said at an employee safety meeting Thursday, though he said he thinks they're moving in the right direction.
The program had a long rollout, with the new bins first distributed in November 2012 and all of them in place by July 2013.
Under the new system, workers roll a single cart back to the truck and hook it up to a mechanized arm that dumps out its contents.