Brush up on what you can recycle in Minneapolis

Minneapolis is making a push for residents to reduce, reuse and recycle, but the city says there is still room for improvement.

Eureka Recycling is a Northeast Minneapolis facility that separates the city's recyclables. They say plenty of items that could be recycled are still being put in the trash. 

Eureka gets 400 tons of recyclable materials a day, and 40% of that is paper, according to Vice President of Operations Miriam Holsinger. Junk mail and cardboard boxes are paper items that don't always make it into the blue bin, Holsinger said.

"There is more to be recycled that is going in the trash, such as cardboard packaging, and you're seeing more and more cardboard nowadays with Amazon," she said.

Butter containers and rinsed out milk and juice cartons are among the newer items Eureka is now able to process. 

Holsinger said over 80% of the material Eureka sorts stays in the state.

"I think that's really important for people to know this isn't material that is going elsewhere, this is providing jobs and making stuff in Minnesota, so it's really helping our community and our environment when you recycle," she said.

Minneapolis is conducting a "capture rate" study this year to find out how much waste could have been recycled.