RecycleCarver - Carver County Environmental Services

06/23/2026

06/23/2026

Not all cardboard is created equal.

Clean, dry pizza boxes (no grease or food) can go in your recycling cart.

Greasy or food-soiled cardboard should go in the trash or, if available, your organics/compost bin — not recycling.

Keeping food and grease out of recycling helps ensure the rest of your cardboard gets a second life!

Learn more: https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/public-services/environmental-services/recycle/betterbin

06/22/2026

The emerald ash borer is devastating ash trees across Minnesota, but you can take action. Carver County just launched a new grant program to help residents treat and protect their ash trees from EAB.

https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/public-services/environmental-services/emerald-ash-borer

06/21/2026

When it comes to recycling paint, Minnesotans do it better. Since the start of the Minnesota paint stewardship program in November 2014, PaintCare has helped collect millions of gallons of paint through hundreds of drop-off sites, where the public can take unwanted, leftover paint for recycling. These sites are at paint retailers (paint and hardware stores) and county household hazardous waste facilities that have volunteered to take back paint.

https://www.paintcare.org/states/minnesota/

06/20/2026

Did you know Environmental Services offers recycling grants to help organizations improve waste diversion and recycling efforts?

This past school year, we partnered with Carver Elementary on a grant project to help strengthen their recycling program. Through the grant, the school received tools and resources to make recycling easier, and our staff visited classrooms to teach students what can be recycled and why recycling matters.

Whether you're a school, nonprofit, restaurant, business, apartment building, or another organization with an idea to reduce waste or improve recycling, we'd love to hear from you.

If your organization is interested in making waste reduction improvements, get in touch and let's talk about your ideas.

https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/public-services/environmental-services/recycle/recycling-grants

06/19/2026

In observance of Juneteenth. The Carver County Environmental Center and Cologne recycling drop off site will be closed Friday, June 19.

For information about Carver County all recycling drop-off sites visit the link below:
https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/public-services/environmental-services/recycle/rural-recycling-drop-off-sites

06/18/2026

It’s Waste & Recycling Workers Week!

Huge shoutout to our Environmental Center team here in Carver County, the crew that keeps the place running smoothly no matter the weather or what weird, heavy, leaky, or “I found this in my garage and I’m scared of it” item shows up.

These folks show up every day, work hard, stay positive, and somehow still manage to keep smiling while helping thousands of people recycle the right way.

In 2025, they helped divert millions of pounds of material from the landfill, including:

• 550,000 lbs of household hazardous waste and electronics
• 530,000 lbs of scrap metal
• 500,000 lbs of appliances
• 500,000 lbs of cardboard and commingled recycling
• 300,000 lbs of mattresses
• 55,000 lbs of tires
• 40,000 lbs of plastic bags and film

And because they’re awesome, they also recirculated 90,000 lbs of paint and other products back to the public for reuse. That’s 90,000 lbs of “Hey, this is still good!” instead of “Yep, that’s trash.”

In total, the team served 41,000 vehicles last year — which is basically the population of a small city rolling through the driveway.

Here’s a message from Matt Nelson, Senior Environmentalist, who somehow keeps us all laughing while keeping everything on track:
“We love what we do, and we’re grateful for everyone who shows up ready to recycle. Every visit helps us make Carver County a little cleaner — and gives us a chance to guess what’s coming out of the trunk next!”

To the whole EC team: thank you for the hard work, the grit, the positive attitudes, and the impact you make every day. Carver County is a better place because of you.

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