FAQs • St Anthony Village, MN • CivicEngage

Can recycling be taken out in a plastic bag?: Material recovery facilities prefer that recycling be collected with a paper bag. If plastic is used, it is recommended that the recyclables be emptied from the plastic bag when placed in the final recycling bin/dumpster for its pickup. The plastic bag in this case would either go to the trash, or to Cub Foods' plastic bag collection (if clean). Keeping plastic bags out of the main recycling stream avoids them getting caught in the sorting equipment, and avoids that entire bag being sent to the trash.

Learn more about Disposing of Plastic Bags.

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Recycling

1. How does the recycling get sorted?: Try out the interactive online Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to learn more about MRFs.

Visit the Virtual MRF

2. What's the deal with pop bottle caps?: Previous sorting machines raised concerns with exploding bottles and flying caps during compaction. Saint Anthony's Haulers now punch them with spikes before compaction, so the caps can stay on the pop bottle.

3. Can I recycle paper and cardboard that include plastic, such as envelopes?: Yes, paper with plastic "windows" are accepted, such as envelopes, tissue boxes and spaghetti boxes.

4. If it's single-sort, why are there still bins that say "cardboard only" or "cans only"?: This is because a hauler, business, or even city hall can get a better price at another company (such as Pioneer Papers or RockTenn) if they pre-sort a certain material. The best way to be informed is to directly contact your hauler.

5. Can recycling be taken out in a plastic bag?: Material recovery facilities prefer that recycling be collected with a paper bag. If plastic is used, it is recommended that the recyclables be emptied from the plastic bag when placed in the final recycling bin/dumpster for its pickup. The plastic bag in this case would either go to the trash, or to Cub Foods' plastic bag collection (if clean). Keeping plastic bags out of the main recycling stream avoids them getting caught in the sorting equipment, and avoids that entire bag being sent to the trash.

Learn more about Disposing of Plastic Bags.

6. What do I do with my shredded paper?: Shredded paper can still be recycled but needs a little bit more care to prevent the small pieces from getting lost or harming the sorting system. Please put all shredded paper in a sealed brown paper bag labeled "Shredded Paper" and place that inside your bin.

7. Are tennis ball containers recyclable?: Packaging for Tennis balls is recyclable, however there's a small chance it wouldn't make it through the sorting system. To ensure that it makes it through the system you can cut the metal ring off the top and recycle both in your single-sort recycling. And remember, the City collects old tennis balls at the Central Park tennis courts.

Learn more about Recycling Tennis Balls.