Delivery of recycling carts to Minot garbage customers begins today. The City of Minot plans to launch curbside recycling as a free trial July 17 for Minot residents with Monday pickup and July 18 for those with Tuesday pickup.

Amber Wright of Minot is among residents looking forward to the recycling option.

“I think it’s a great program. We need to take care of our city and do our part,” she said. “I’m really excited about it.”

She said much of the waste generated at her house is plastic and cardboard, which are two items the new curbside recycling program will be taking.

Over the next two weeks, Minot sanitation customers can expect the trash carts with blue lids to arrive with instructions about how to recycle. At a rate of about 1,000 carts a day, Schaefer Plastics North America will deliver a 95-gallon cart to the curb of each residence. Each cart is tagged by radio frequency to the address to which it will be delivered.

There will be no charge for recycling during the trial period that runs until Oct. 1. Residents who decide they don’t want curbside recycling can withdraw from the program after July 17 but must do so before the $2.50 monthly fee starts on Oct. 1.

“You are still throwing garbage away but recyclable garbage, so why not participate in the program?” said Christina Wolf, recycling coordinator for the city. “You can even downsize your trash container to offset the cost of recycling.”

With less nonrecyclable trash going out for regular pickup, dropping to a smaller cart size can save $2 a month, bringing the cost of recycling to just 50 cents a month.

“Just give it a try,” Wolf said. “We are getting ready to open up another cell at the landfill. That’s pretty costly. It costs the taxpayers a lot of money. So by recycling, you extend the longevity of the landfill.”

Making recycled materials available saves on virgin materials in manufacturing, which also is positive for the environment, she said.

Some facts of the program:

– Recycling pickups will replace regular trash pickups every other Monday or Tuesday. Households that opt out of recycling will not get a pickup that day. If the recycling pickup day falls on a holiday, the pickup will be rescheduled.

– The opt-out is a one-time event. Anyone relocating to a different address will be required to join the program if serviced by the city’s sanitation service.

– The program will accept plastic bottles, jugs, tubs and lids numbered 1, 2 or 5; aluminum, steel or tin cans; food cartons; cardboard, food and beverage boxes, newspaper, mail and other mixed paper. Plastics and cans should be rinsed and cardboard flattened.

– Recyclables should not be bagged. All types of recyclables can be co-mingled in the cart.

– The program won’t take shredded paper, glass, tanglers such as hoses and extension cords, batteries, diapers and pet waste, plastic bags and film; hazardous items such as sharps or motor oil.

– Residents can downsize to a 65-gallon cart for their recyclables, but the monthly cost remains $2.50.

City sanitation workers will deliver collected recyclables to a transfer facility recently built at the Minot Landfill. The waste will be compacted and shipped to Dem-Con, a processing facility in Shakopee, Minnesota.

Wolf said the recyclables will be sorted in Shakopee and sent into the end market. She said the waste will not go into a landfill and it is illegal to send it overseas. When residents receive their carts, they also will get a postcard with a scannable link to Dem-Con’s online presentation of its processing operations.

The City of Minot will receive 80% of the proceeds received in the sale of the recyclables into the end market, Wolf said.

Currently, it appears the city could break even, getting its transportation costs covered, but prices do fluctuate, making predictions difficult, she said.

The city received a $207,000 grant to offset the $924,366 cost of the carts. The city is using lease financing to manage the remainder of the cost. The city contracted for two years with 1 Call Septic Services to transport the recyclables to Minnesota, estimating a cost of $120,000 for 2023.