Eureka aims to complete recycling circle

In an office lined with potted plants and a bag of compost, Susan Hubbard used a glass bottle to demonstrate the difference between big waste haulers and Eureka Recycling, the local nonprofit she runs.

Moving the bottle in a half circle before banging it on the table, she explained that true recycling does not stop there. "It goes like this..." she said, completing a smooth circle.

Eureka has been making inroads in the recycling business by promoting that idea -- full-circle recycling of more waste than the competition is willing to handle. It's gaining attention, and winning away contracts, because of its emphasis on "actually recycling," as one expert describes it -- ensuring that nearly all of what folks set out at the curb ends up getting reused.

The bottle that Hubbard held? Put it into a Eureka truck, and it'll likely end up part of a new bottle or jar. Put it into a Waste Management truck, and it's as likely to end up used in place of gravel at a local landfill.

"That is not recycling," Hubbard contends.

Waste Management and the state of Minnesota disagree with that conclusion. But more cities are buying the message.

In recent years, Eureka has landed contracts in several suburbs -- Roseville, Arden Hills, Lauderdale, Maplewood and, starting next month, St. Louis Park. Three of those five had previously contracted with Waste Management.

That decision turned on the complex and occasionally murky issues surrounding recycling, such as: Do people recycle more materials if they don't have to sort them? And how much of what's put out at the curb is getting recycled?

"It's really difficult to sort out these things," said recycling consultant Tim Goodman, of Tim Goodman & Associates.

"And it's partly because there are a lot of very subjective types of questions," he said.

Eureka's origins

Created in 2001 as an alternative to the big waste haulers, Eureka Recycling is an offshoot of a community-based organization, St. Paul's Neighborhood Energy Consortium.

"We knew there was a much larger need out there," said Tim Brownell, the nonprofit's copresident.

Roseville began with Eureka in 2006, after conducting a study in six neighborhoods that explored what methods led to more recycling. Eureka offered a contract that incorporated what worked best, including weekly pickup.

Recycling figures have increased since -- as they have in other cities Eureka serves -- in part because of the education Eureka does "at the point of interaction," said Tim Pratt, the city's recycling coordinator.

If someone puts out plastic that's not recyclable, Eureka's haulers will leave it behind -- with a note explaining why.

Roseville resident Lillian Chiarella, 86, once ran outside after seeing a Eureka employee leave her pizza box behind. "And he said, 'We can't take those because there's food particles there,'" she said. "I thought that was excellent. I will never put one out again."

Much of Eureka's mission lies in such education, which state and national agencies have praised. The company spends significant time and money answering phone calls and distributing leaflets.

"Let us introduce you to a few unique members of your recycling program's 'family,'" one of its recent postcards stated, telling people they could now recycle milk cartons, juice boxes and clothes.

Eureka's contract proposal in Plymouth included $289,800 for education over three years. Waste Management's initial bid, which was $400,000 less than Eureka's, did not include education money.

When it became clear that the City Council was concerned about cost, some residents whispered to one another at meetings: Why doesn't Eureka just cut the education?

Hubbard said education is needed, pointing to the tonnage that Plymouth recycles, which dropped 18.3 percent from 2004 to 2007, even as population increased. Statewide, recycling figures have leveled off since the mid-90s.

"If we take that money out ... we're no better than the offer from Waste Management. And if we're no better than Waste Management, then work with Waste Management."

Waste Management attributes the decrease in tonnage, which other cities are also experiencing, to people reading fewer newspapers, manufacturers cutting back on packaging and a general switch from heavy glass to lighter plastic.

Still, at Waste Management of Minnesota "there are many efforts underway to reinvigorate recycling," said Julie Ketchum, director of public affairs. And it partners with cities that want to better educate the public.

What constitutes recycling?

Waste Management -- which bills itself as the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America -- says it recycles all but about 6 percent of the materials it picks up. Eureka Recycling says it recycles all but about 1 percent.

And that's true. But Waste Management says it's actually being recycled.

Although the company does do glass-to-glass recycling, it re-uses much of the 3,000 tons of glass it collects monthly at its Twin Cities facility as a substitute for gravel in construction at its landfills. This "replaces the need to mine gravel, a natural resource," Ketchum said.

The state also considers that recycling, said Mark Rust, a solid waste planner for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

"All the different avenues" for recycling glass are important, Rust said, "especially in outstate areas where there's no way of getting material to a glass manufacturer and traveling 200 miles to one -- the energy balance doesn't even work on that one."

But Eureka says that "truly" recycling glass bottles helps manufacturers keep from using virgin material to make new bottles. Making glass from new materials, versus recycled ones, uses 20 to 30 percent more energy, the state says.

Eureka's annual proceeds ranged from $4,700 to $243,771 between 2002 and 2006, tax records show. The great majority of its revenue comes from contracts, not grants.

"The demonstration and the education is that you can do this," Hubbard said. "You can charge a fair price. You can actually recycle all of it. And you can make a profit, too."