Crow Wing County offers four recycling drop sites that are available for use to all county residents — down from the 12 drop sites in the past due to increasing costs.
Two recently closed sites include the city of Crosby and Crosslake Rolloff. Contamination, overfilled dumpsters and overall monitoring of the site issues, specifically, came into play in the Crosby decision.
In 2021, the county is considering moving forward with two drop-off sites located at the county landfill and the Ideal Transfer Station. The county is also considering offering a 50% cost-sharing program for cities and townships that prefer to have a recycling drop site in their jurisdiction.
“An option where local governments can partner with the county is one of the best ways to share costs and continue to provide additional recycling opportunities,” environmental services supervisor Ryan Simonson stated in a news release.
In addition to the drop-off sites, a better recycling method is curbside service, according to county officials. Four cities have ordinances in place requiring haulers to provide curbside recycling in their cities: Brainerd, Baxter, Pequot Lakes and Ironton.
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“The county encourages these types of curbside recycling ordinances because the volume speaks for itself,” Simonson stated of the cities of Brainerd and Baxter, which recycle more volume through curbside service than is recycled at all of the drop-off locations combined.
The landfill site and Ideal Transfer Station are located in the south-central and northwestern portions of the county, respectively, and serve a large number of residents.
The distance from downtown Nisswa to the Ideal Transfer Station is 10.9 miles. Downtown Crosslake is 12 miles from the transfer station. Farther south, the distance from downtown Deerwood to the landfill is 9.6 miles, while downtown Crosby is 6.8 miles from the landfill.
The four county recycling drop sites are:
Crow Wing County Landfill, 15728 Highway 210, Brainerd.
Ideal Township Transfer Station, 33503 W. Island Lake Drive, Pequot Lakes.
City of Nisswa, 25636 Main St., Nisswa.
Crow Wing Township, 6930 Cuyuna Ave., Brainerd.
