It’s early January and you’re still awash in cardboard boxes, string lights and maybe even an actual Christmas tree. What to do, what to do?

If the flattened boxes don’t fit in your recycling cart, hop on over to the St. Paul Transfer Station at 309 Como Ave., where Waste Management collects cardboard free-of-charge during business hours, as well as on Saturday mornings.

String lights and cords can be dropped off through Jan. 22 at any St. Paul Public Library site or at the St. Paul Regional Water Services building in Maplewood for recycling, or taken to Repowered, an electronics recycler at 860 Vandalia St. in St. Paul. They’re also accepted at Bay West, Ramsey County’s designated household hazardous waste collection site at 5 Empire Drive in St. Paul. If they’re still in working order, consider donating them.

As for your evergreen, don’t toss it in the back yard unless you want to attract and spread pests like the unsightly Elongate Hemlock Scale, an insect that sucks onto conifers like a rust-colored fungus. Ramsey County will collect trees — stripped of ornaments and decorations — for mulch at yard waste collection sites in Arden Hills, Frank Street at Sims Avenue in St. Paul, the St. Paul Midway and White Bear Township.

There are plenty of options for recycling holiday packaging and even organic leftovers, said Andrea McKennan, Ramsey County’s Environmental Health Division outreach and engagement supervisor.

The county plans to open a new environmental service center next year in Roseville, and most counties have their own drop-off centers that collect items ranging from cardboard to batteries, paints and oils. Ramsey County publishes a recycling “A-to-Z Green Guide” online explaining what to do with each product at tinyurl.com/RamseyRecyclesAZ.

What not to recycle

Here’s what not to recycle: Styrofoam, plastic bags that tend to get caught in the sorting machines at the recycling centers, and any plastic that isn’t marked No. 1, 2 or 5. Also, keep the cords and string lights out of those recycling carts.

“They tangle up equipment, so we really don’t want them in the recycling cart,” McKennan said.

Sorting machines are better able to detect tin and aluminum cans if they have not been crushed. Cardboard boxes, on the other hand, should be flattened.

Ramsey County launched an organics waste pilot project last April, enrolling some 500 households in Newport, Cottage Grove, Maplewood and North St. Paul. The program relies on robotic arms to remove specially-designated compostable bags full of food scraps from the regular solid waste stream at the Newport trash disposal facility, and it’s now expanded citywide in those communities. It will continue to roll out throughout Ramsey and Washington counties over the next few years.

“It was a success,” said McKennan, noting that allowing residents to throw their food scrap bags into their trash cans means there’s no need for additional trucks or carts, avoiding added carbon emissions. Residents can sign up for notifications at FoodScrapsPickUp.com.

Is recycling worth it?

In recent years, critics have taken a hard look at the recycling industry from coast to coast and found some troubling trends, such as plastics that end up diverted to landfills. McKennan said Minnesota is ahead of the curve in establishing state laws that prohibit enivronmental centers from tossing recyclables in the trash, as long as they can actually be recycled.

“There’s a lot of plastic that is not recyclable,” she acknowledged. “In that area, we need to look to how we can reduce our use of plastic. A really low percentage of plastic is recycled, but No. 1, 2 and 5 can be recycled and have more life if we’re doing it right.”

The Twin Cities is fortunate, she said, in that a large percentage of recycled material is resold locally to Midwest manufacturers and returned to productive use.

Just before the holidays, six metro counties — Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties — launched a metro-wide campaign to educate the public about what happens to their recycling once it leaves their home.

Dubbed “Recycling Exists,” the campaign points out that glass bottles and jars are sorted by color at a factory in St. Paul, and recycled paper and cardboard are made into cereal and cracker boxes in the capital city. Recycled food cans are made into wire, car parts and appliances throughout the Midwest. Clear glass is sent to Shakopee to make bottles for drinks, pickles, salad dressing and the like.

Plastic milk and laundry detergent jugs are made into durable decking, fencing and landscaping products in Paynesville, which is in Stearns County, Minn. Plastic drink bottles and produce containers are made into new plastic bottles in Wisconsin and Ohio.

900,000 tons

Overall, according to Ramsey County, the Twin Cities metro area recycles an average of 900,000 tons of paper and cardboard, metal, glass and plastic each year – the weight of about four large cruise ships.

“Over the past few years, there’s been an increase in messaging — what happens to recycling? Is it worth it? Do things really get recycled?” McKennan said. “This coalition of counties came together to say yes, things are getting recycled.”

“Have faith in our recycling system,” she added. “It does get recycled if we’re doing it right. Our recycling system is quite local. It tends to stay within the state or region.”

More information is online at Recyclingexists.com.

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