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Ramsey and Washington counties have worked together to manage waste responsibly since the 1980s. Today, the counties work jointly through Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy (R&E). Through R&E, the counties strive to protect health and the environment and meet the state’s 75% recycling goal. R&E views the waste stream as a resource stream and works to extract maximum value from discarded materials.
Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy is governed by the joint powers R&E Board, which is composed of commissioners from the two counties. Read more about the R&E Board here. R&E serves over 800,000 residents and 70,000 businesses.
Vibrant, healthy communities without waste
Enhancing public health and the environment by creating value from waste through partnerships
Commitment
Committed to public health, safety and the environment
Teamwork
Making the biggest impact by working beyond ourselves
Respect
Treating the earth and all people with esteem, dignity and compassion
Trust
Maintaining diligent stewardship of public trust and funding, with our work informed by research and science
Innovation
Focusing on excellence, continual improvement and adaptation in pursuit of the mission
To the right is the waste management hierarchy, which lists waste management practices from most to least favorable. The State of Minnesota uses the hierarchy to make decisions about handling waste.
Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy (R&E) works aggressively to move waste up the hierarchy. Robust commercial and residential recycling is in place in both counties, with both recycling nearly 50% of waste. R&E and the counties collaborate with their communities through education and engagement, technical assistance and expertise, and financial incentives. These efforts maximize waste reduction, encourage material reuse and ensure the highest rate of quality recycling.
Ramsey and Washington counties recognize that there is often value to the items that people put in the trash. R&E sees the waste stream as a resource stream. This resulted in the 2016 purchase of the Recycling & Energy Center (R&E Center), located in Newport, Minnesota. All trash generated by individuals and businesses in the two counties is delivered here, where R&E works to recover value.
The R&E Center manages more than 450,000 tons of trash per year. At the R&E Center, trash is processed to recover recyclable metals and make fuel for producing electricity. Through this system, R&E is maximizing the recovery of resources and diverting as much as possible from landfills. The R&E Center is the only facility of its kind in the state, and, in 2018, over 90% of waste in the two counties was diverted from landfills.
In 2019:
The waste management hierarchy lists priorities for how to handle waste in Minnesota.
2017 – Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy and BizRecycling