Minnetonka's New Recycling Program Starts Jan. 1

The city of has contracted with Allied Waste to provide recycling services as of Jan. 1.

Your recycling collection day doesn’t change, but starting in 2012, recycling is collected every two weeks. Your collection day is based on your location related to I-494—if you live west of I-494, collection is on Mondays; for those east of I-494, collection is on Tuesdays.

The dates of the first few months of recycling pickup are listed to help you get started (see attached map).

Recycling should be out by 6:30 a.m. on collection day. Place your recycling cart and garbage cart on opposite sides of your driveway—at least 3 feet apart from each other and other objects. Every household pays $2.50 per month for recycling, billed on the utility/water bill.

In addition to the materials you were already recycling, the new program allows for recycling of:

• Plastic bags from retailers (please stuff all bags in another bag before placing in recycling cart)
• Foil-lined containers (juice boxes)
• All types of plastic food/beverage containers (#1–#7), including yogurt cups and butter/whip cream tubs.
• Wax-coated cardboard (which typically contains frozen items) still cannot be recycled. However, plastic-coated items such as milk cartons, juice boxes and cartons of soup/broth are recyclable.

Each recycling cart contains a list of acceptable and unacceptable items printed on the lid for easy reference.

Recycle these items:

• Newspaper and newspaper inserts
• Magazines and catalogs
• All junk mail and envelopes
• Cardboard (flatten the boxes)
• Office and school papers (all colors)
• Phone books
• Cereal and cracker-type boxes
• Brown paper sacks/bags
• Aluminum, steel and tin cans
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastics: #1–7—bottles, cups, food containers, tubs, bowls
• Yogurt cups and butter/whip cream tubs
• Plastic milk jugs and paper milk cartons
• Plastic bags (from retailers)
• Juice boxes and other paper cartons

Do not recycle these items:

• No garbage
• No food waste
• No food tainted items (used paper plates, paper towels or paper napkins)
• No pizza boxes
• No egg cartons
• No wax-coated cartons
• No ice-cream cartons
• No aluminum foil
• No Styrofoam (like cups/plates and packaging)
• No aerosol cans, propane tanks or helium tanks
• No batteries

Contact Allied Waste at 952-941-5174 with questions on the program and find more information by visiting the city of Minnetonka's website.