Apartments

Providing recycling at your property is a win-win for you and your tenants. 

• Residents expect recycling services.
• In Minnesota, recycling in apartment buildings, condos and townhomes is required by the commercial recycling law.
• An efficient recycling system helps tenants recycle better and reduces contamination and illegal dumping at your property. 
• By “right-sizing” trash and recycling services, you can cut costs by requiring fewer waste pickups.
• Unlike garbage services, which are subject to county and state taxes, recycling is tax-free.

A successful recycling program involves more than putting out carts and dumpsters. These best practices will help you create a successful system and engage your tenants. For a customized improvement plan for your property and to access grant funding, contact us to connect with a Recycling Expert!

Make It Simple and Convenient

• Always place recycling bins next to trash bins. Never leave a bin solo.
• Provide reusable totes for tenants to take recyclables to the designated recycling area.
• Clearly label all bins and dumpsters.
• Keep trash and recycling areas clean and safe.

Educate and Motivate Residents

• Post recycling instructions in common areas.
• Request that tenants flatten cardboard before placing it in recycling bins.
• Provide new tenants a guide, recycling tote and residue-free removable cling explaining what can be recycled.
• Distribute a reminder door hanger annually.
• Share updates in newsletters and provide positive feedback.
• Include recycling as a building policy in your tenant lease agreement.
• Have translated materials available for non-English speaking tenants.

Recruit Recycling Champions

• Provide an incentive, such as a rent credit or a preferred parking space, to a tenant who is willing to monitor recycling bins, alert you to problems, and assist other tenants with questions.
• Your volunteer is especially important if they can communicate with non-English speaking tenants.

Work with Building Staff and Your Hauler

• Make sure there is enough space available in recycling bins. If there is not enough space, tenants will throw their recycling in the trash.
• Ask for feedback to find out how well the system is working.
• Understand what you are paying for and be a smart consumer. Hauling prices are very competitive. We can help you analyze your hauling bill for cost savings.

Moving day can generate a surplus of trash. Here are some best practices to ease the burden.

• Provide tenants with information on what to do with large items.
• Encourage donating good quality furniture, clothing, housewares and other items.
• Request that tenants flatten cardboard before placing it in recycling bins.
• Educate tenants on where to take electronics and other household hazardous waste, such as motor oil, household cleaners, florescent light bulbs, and batteries.

For options on managing household hazardous waste at your property visit RamseyRecycles.com or Washington County’s Environmental Services page.  

Apartment Recycling Specialists complete the following activities:

• Attend orientation. Orientation will be on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. You will meet other Apartment Recycling Specialists and your recycling mentor. We will discuss the details of the program, and specialists will learn the nuts and bolts of recycling and waste management issues in apartment buildings. Orientation will be held virtually on Zoom.  
• Complete the Ramsey County or Washington County Recycling Ambassador Program. During this six-week training, you’ll learn all about environmental health, waste systems and recycling. Workshops will take place both in-person and virtually on Zoom. Workshops are on Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m., Sept. 15 – Oct. 20, 2026.  
• Educate residents and reduce waste at your apartment building.  
  • Provide residents with tips and resources for waste reduction, recycling and food scraps collection 
  • Update trash and recycling signage 
  • Monitor the building’s garbage and recycling containers for proper use 
  • Coordinate activities to support donation and/or recycling of materials such as mattresses/furniture, clothing, food scraps, plastic bags/film and other materials that are harder to recycle

Apartment Recycling Specialists commit to spending an average of 2-3 hours per week on activities for six months. Participation may be extended up to 18 months.

Specialists will receive a monthly stipend of up to $250 for completing an average of 2-3 hours of activities per week.

• Currently live in an apartment or other multi-unit building with five or more units in Ramsey or Washington counties
• Plan to maintain a lease in the same building for the duration of the program (a minimum of six months)
• Be able to provide a completed W-9 form for monthly stipend
• Be able to spend an average of two to three hours per week on Apartment Recycling Specialist activities
• Be able to attend all applicable trainings and meetings for the program
• Submit a monthly report of hours and completed activities
  • Apartment Recycling Specialist Monthly Report Form

• Complete the online application by August 15, 2026
• After application review, applicants will be notified if they are accepted into the program, on a waitlist, or don’t meet program requirements (see eligibility requirements above)
• Selected specialists will begin the program on September 8, 2026

Apartment Recycling Specialist Application

Apartment Recycling Specialists can improve the waste management operations and sense of community pride at your property. Coupled with technical assistance and grant funding from BizRecycling, you may see the following benefits:  

• Reduced recycling and trash bills  
• Reduced contamination in recycling  
• Cleaner common areas 
• Increased community collaboration  
• Increased recycling participation  
• Positive environmental benefits  

Help us recruit an Apartment Recycling Specialist for your property! 

1. Program participation is FREE to residents of Ramsey and Washington counties. This means that you, as the property manager/owner, don’t incur any cost if your residents participate in the program.
2. Residents opt in to the program, so you don’t need to do anything to help them participate other than spreading the word about the program!
3. Having your residents participate doesn’t change the contents of the trash. Therefore, your waste hauling isn’t impacted by resident participation in the program.
4. Promoting food scrap collection shows your residents that you care about the environment and that you are supportive of sustainable initiatives.

No. Residents must sign up individually to get their free food scrap bags via the program website or by calling 651-661-9393.

To get started, residents should order their free annual supply of food scrap bags on the program website or by calling 651-661-9393. The program-specific bags will arrive by mail with instructions on how to start collecting food scraps.

Using food scrap bags is just a different way of collecting the same material that’s currently going in your trash. Like your trash, if you take your food scrap bags out to your garbage cart or dumpster regularly and have your trash serviced by your hauler regularly, odors should not be an issue.

Food scrap bags are durable and compostable and should not leak while being transported to their destination. They are thicker than typical compostable bags sold in retail stores or online. Food scrap bags are specially designed to withstand chute drops, dumpster pickups and trips in a garbage truck.

No. All residents of Ramsey and Washington counties can participate regardless of hauler. This program works within the current waste system, meaning there are no changes to how haulers operate or pick up trash.

Your trash hauler will pick up your trash, with the food scrap bags, on your regular collection day.

The trash and food scrap bags are then brought to the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center (R&E) in Newport or a transfer station, where the food scrap bags are separated from your trash by robots that recognize and separate the food scrap bags. Only residents in eligible communities will have their food scrap bags separated from the trash.

The food scrap bags and their contents are then sent to an industrial composting facility and turned into nutrient-rich soil called “compost.”

Food scraps make up about 20% of trash by weight collected in Ramsey and Washington counties. The Food Scraps Pickup Program turns food scraps back into soil, rather than waste.