The event was the second in a series of Neighborhood Meetings being held by the City of Minot this month to present information and listen to residents.

Market prices for recycling can vary and cycle up and down.

“But right now, it seems to be at a high and doing well, and as far as we can tell, it’s accomplished what it’s supposed to do,” City Manager Harold Stewart said. “It’s performing better financially than what we had built our models and projections off of.”

Minot receives a rebate in the amount of 80% of the commodity price for each recyclable category. Cardboard has been particularly profitable.

Jill Schramm/MDN Recycling Coordinator Christina Wolf and Landfill Superintendent Josh Kraft explain the recycling operation on a tour of the facility during the City of Minot’s Neighborhood Meeting Thursday.

Residents who attended the event were able to ask questions and tour the recycling transfer center.

“It’s a good start. Minot can be proud of itself,” resident Bill Christen said of the operation. “We’ve made great progress with this recycling, even though it’s still in the beginning stages. It’s on the small side, but to have 10,000 patrons is nothing to laugh at. It’s respectable.”

Christen foresees the recycling saving the city more and more landfill space as it gets more efficient over time.

Landfill Superintendent Josh Kraft said it is difficult to say how recycling might extend the life of Minot’s landfill, but it does make a difference.

“We get three semi loads every two weeks going out of here,” he said. At first, it might not seem like much, he said, but when calculated over a 25-year life of a landfill cell, the impact will be there.

“It’ll be noticeable,” Kraft said.

Recycling Coordinator Christina Wolf said the recycling program averaged collections of 100 tons a month last year.

Minot’s recycling is single sort, which means residents do not need to separate different types of recyclables. That separation is done at the recycling center in Minneapolis, where Minot’s recycling waste ends up.

Some sorting is done at the Minot transfer station to remove nonrecyclable items from the recyclable waste stream.

Kraft spoke about the ongoing education to let residents know what is recyclable. He recommended the city’s Waste Wizard app, which lets users know if a particular item is recyclable.

“There’s no such thing as a zero percent contamination recycling program,” Kraft said. Minot’s contamination rate is about 11%, which compared to many programs around the country is quite low, he said.

Minot’s program does not take glass due to its weight, which makes it expensive to transport and creates issues with truck weight on highways in Minnesota.

“There’s no return on glass,” Kraft added of the opportunity to get a rebate.

With citywide cleanup coming April 28-May 2, Kraft pointed out that crews will capture recyclables and keep them separate from other waste if they notice residents have left those items on the curb during the free bulk pickup week.