Woodbury recycling center hits its stride

Just months after Washington County opened a $5.3 million environmental center in Woodbury to replace a smaller one in Oakdale, residents are dropping off recyclable materials at a record pace.

The county has seen a "definite uptick" with more than 1,000 residents coming to the center in a single week for the first time, said Jeff Travis, county environmental health manager.

"We think that the location is part of it," he said. "It's easy to get through; it's easy to find."

The environmental center replaced the county's household hazardous waste collection site in Oakdale, which closed in June. The county lost its lease in the Oakdale Public Works Garage this year when the city of Oakdale needed the space.

Records show 213,000 residents dropped off more than 12 million pounds of waste at the old site during its 15 years.

The new environment center, at 4039 Cottage Grove Drive, near the intersection of Manning Avenue and Bailey Road, includes electronics recycling and a "Reuse Room" -- five times the size of the space in Oakdale -- where residents can shop for free reusable household products such as paint, motor oil and cleaners.

This fall, the Woodbury center has averaged a 31 percent increase in participation over the number of people who went to the Oakdale center, Travis said. That growth comes despite the summer closure, he said.

Seventy percent of all Washington County residents live within a 20-minute drive of the new center. "We think that's playing really well for convenience," Travis said.

In addition, the center now accepts electronics three days a week, compared with only Saturdays at Oakdale. Electronic items collected at the free drop-off sometimes fill two 53-foot semitrailer trucks a week, he said.

"If it wasn't brought to our program, the alternative to the homeowner would be to put this stuff in the garbage," Travis said. However, some of the hazardous materials in electronics can't go in landfills. The environmental center accepts everything from old television sets to computer printers and cell phones.

Residents who pull in to the bay at the center will see a squad of workers in white laboratory coats swoop in to unload recyclables from trunks and pickup beds after they check a driver's license to verify Washington County residency. The goal, Travis said, is to finish with each vehicle within five minutes.

"People are really liking the ease of the drop-off," he said.